Transform a tent school housing 60 students to a five-room school house in the village of Mir Bocha Kot, Afghanistan.
August to December, 2006
$ 10,000
In August 2005, the three founders of the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign (ABC7 News Anchor Cheryl Jennings, Heidi Kuhn and Kyleigh Kuhn) traveled to Afghanistan on a journey of hope. As they visited the small village of Mir Bocha Kot just north of Kabul, Kyleigh saw a small tent in the distance pitched across the river that appeared to be a school. Through a translator, she confirmed that it was, in fact, a school and asked the Roots of Peace staff member why these children had to study in the blazing summer heat without shade? He replied that his own children attended this school and they had no money for enough tents to offer shade to all the students or school supplies. The original school building was situated right in the middle of a battle zone between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. During the fighting, three walls and the roof of the school were blown up, leaving the school in ruins. The trenches dug by the warring factions are still visible 15 feet from the school yard. Quietly, Kyleigh requested that they stop by the outdoor school to say “hello” to the children…
After meeting the local children who were studying amidst the intense heat, Kyleigh knew she had the next project for the Penny Campaign. She was inspired to return to America to raise the necessary funds to establish a school inspiring hope for the next generation...The contributions from American schools participating in the Penny Campaign have helped turn dreams into reality; connecting students from across the globe with a common desire to learn.
One year later in August 2006, construction began on the school by our Roots of Peace team based in Kabul. Heidi Kuhn and Shamim Jawad, wife of the Afghan Ambassador to the U.S. visited the school site to lay the cornerstone as the building began. They added their “2 cents” by placing two American pennies into the cement. Unbeknownst to us at Roots of Peace, the Ministry of Education officially registered the new school as the KYLEIGH KUHN ROOTS OF PEACE SCHOOL.
California Congresswoman Evans led her constituents in Napa Valley to donated pencils, pens, notebooks, and other practical items which were shipped from Napa Valley to the Shomali Valley to empower the Afghan children to learn lessons of peace in the next generation.
The school is now complete and houses 225 students, enabling 165 more students than the tent school to go to school! This school stands as a tangible reminder that the vision and leadership of youth can manifest great change bettering the lives of students on the other side of the world... one penny at a time. Collecting Pennies for Peace... In August 2007, Penny Campaign donations will fund a new project to build a wall enclosure and soccer field on the school grounds.
