Swan man fights for education in Afghanistan
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POLSON — A headline in Parade magazine in 2003 read, “He fights terror with books,” and Budd MacKenzie was intrigued enough that he read the story about Greg Mortenson.
MacKenzie related his story to the Polson Rotary Club on July 28.
Mortenson, a humanitarian, the author of “Two Cups of Tea” and builder of hundreds of schools in Afghanistan for girls, founded the Central Asia Institute and used that foundation to fund the schools.
Although Mortenson got in some hot water in 2012 when he was accused of using foundation funds for his own travel and of major inaccuracies in his book, the story initially inspired MacKenzie to help. An attorney who lives in California and spends summers in the Swan, MacKenzie was used to raising money in his home community for ballparks and other civic projects. But trying to communicate with Mortenson proved difficult.
“It took me six weeks to get a hold of him,” MacKenzie said.
MacKenzie asked Mortenson how much he needed to start another school, since he thought they might as well raise money for a school for girls in Afghanistan. When Mortenson said $25,000 for a school, MacKenzie, with the help of his friends, raised $60,000 in six months.
His original plan was to just raise the money for one school, but then he got hooked.
“During that six month time, I became informed,” MacKenzie said.
He learned that when the United States left Afghanistan in 1992, they also pulled the humanitarian aid. By then the war had killed 1.5 million Afghanistan people and left 5 million refugees.
To put that number in perspective, MacKenzie compared that number of people to all the residents of the states of Montana, Idaho and Oregon.
“It’s the absolute worst place for a woman to be born,” MacKenzie said.
MacKenzie started his own foundation called Trust in Education —totally separate from Mortenson’s foundation — in 2005 after reading “Charlie Wilson’s War.” According to the website www.trustineducation.org, the organization provides educational, economic and health care assistance to Afghan families.
The primary emphasis is on education. In 2003 TIE financed construction of a school in the village of Lalander for 120 children, 40 of whom were girls. The school was completed in 2005.
When MacKenzie showed a photo of the school to a group of American children, they asked, “Where is the playground? Where are the swings?”
So when he went back to Afghanistan, MacKenzie made sure there were swings, a see saw, monkey bars, a slide and equipment for a volleyball court.
Then an Afghan boy bravely asked if the school could have a soccer field, since all the children love to play soccer.
Investigating the cost for a soccer field, TIE found it would cost about $500 and it was playable before MacKenzie left for the states.
He took that lesson about play and integrated it into TIE’s philosophy. When a new school is constructed, a playground is included. And the darndest thing is, if there’s a playground, more kids come to school.
TIE is doing other things, too, such as manufacturing solar cookers and teaching people how to use them. The most expensive part of the cookers was Mylar, and Jack Howe, a solar power devotee, found that Peet’s Coffee used Mylar bags for their coffee. TIE recycled them into cookers.
TIE also has a relationship with Khan Academy. People can go online and learn and study for free, but the lessons are in English. So TIE began translating them into Dari, the Afghan language.
To find out what a community needs — ask them, MacKenzie said.
Because they were needed, TIE coordinated with a group of American knitters to make socks and hats for babies, instead of blankets, to help keep them warm.
TIE is responsible for building two schools and three learning centers. They are working with six village schools and 19 refugee centers and have hired 24 Afghan teachers. Four of the teachers run soccer programs, and 20 are teaching before and after school classes in math, science, English, computers and literacy.
For his work, MacKenzie was chosen as one of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion in 2014.
For more information on TIE, go to the website and sign up for the newsletter or donate.
“Think about getting on the plane and helping people somewhere else in the world,” MacKenzie said. “You meet the nicest people.”
