What is the Power of a Penny?      

The penny, 1% of a dollar, is symbolic of the '1% of Gross Domestic Product' goal set by the United Nations. The goal was for wealthy countries to give foreign aid to impoverished nations each year.

Pennies for Peace teaches children the rewards of sharing and working together to bring hope and educational opportunities to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  A penny in the United States is virtually worthless, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy.

The mission of Central Asia Institute (CAI) focuses on community-based education, especially for girls. A 5th grade education for girls improves not only the basic indices of health for her and her family; she will also spread the value of education within her community. Literacy, for both boys and girls, provides better economic opportunities in the future and neutralizes the power of despot mullahs and other extremist leaders.

Please join GVCS in Pennies for Peace! Contribute your pennies in several ways:

1. Ask your ES if she will deliver your pennies to our office for you the next time she goes in.

2. Bring the pennies to the office (and visit the library while you are here; we have just expanded) and allow your child to empty his/her coins into our container.

3. Bring your pennies to STAR testing, where we will place containers ready to receive pennies.

Curriculum ideas

·Look on the Internet or in an encyclopedia to find facts about Pakistan and Afghanistan. What would you do if you lived there? What would you eat? Where would you go to school (or would you)? What would your parents do for work?

·Look on a map and find Pakistan and Afghanistan. Find out what kind of money they use and what a penny will buy in that currency.

·Look for stray pennies in your couch, in the car and on the street. Or start a piggy bank at home to collect pennies on your own.
Think about what you had to give up in order to save those pennies and what those pennies might do for someone in another country.

·Take a field trip to a local bank to see the pennies counted by the coin machine before being translated into a cashier’s check or money order.

·Write to your Congressional Representatives and Senators to urge them to support a foreign aid budget to bring peace and stability to volatile regions.

·Have fun while you do these projects! Giving a gift can be as fun as receiving one!

·Be creative and make the Pennies for Peace drive your own!

Thank you for participating in the Pennies for Peace program, we hope that you learn a lot and feel good about helping kids in another part of the world!