"Central Asia Institute, has spent more money in the U.S. talking about education in Pakistan and Afghanistan than actually building and supporting schools there, according to an analysis of the organization's last financial report.posted by ericb at 2:22 PM on April 17, 2011 [2 favorites]
A charity watchdog group expresses concern that money donors have given to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan is actually being used to promote Mortenson's books.
... Kroft also interviews Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, who raises serious questions about the financial management of the Central Asia Institute, CAI. In its fiscal 2009 financial report, CAI said it spent $1.7 million 'on book-related expenses,' which is more than it spent on all of its schools in Pakistan that year.
'You would hope that they would be spending a lot more on the schools in Pakistan than they would on book-related costs,' says Borochoff. 'Why doesn't Mr. Mortenson spend his own money on the book-related costs? He's the one getting the revenues,' Borochoff tells Kroft.
'60 Minutes' also checked on schools that CAI claims to have built in Pakistan and Afghanistan and found that some of them were empty, built by somebody else, or simply didn't exist at all. The principals of a number of schools said they had not received any money from CAI in years.
Krakauer says a former board member of CAI told him he should stop giving money to Mortenson's charity years ago. 'In 2002, [Mortenson's] board treasurer quit, resigned, along with the board president and two other board members...he said, in so many words, that Greg uses Central Asia Institute as his private ATM machine. That there's no accounting. He has no receipts,' says Krakauer."
Statement of the Board of Directors, Central Asia Institute Regarding Recent Media Reportsposted by evilmomlady at 12:20 PM on April 19, 2011
April 16, 2011
From the time the Central Asia Institute was first created, its mission and that of its co-founder, Greg Mortensen, has been to support and promote educational opportunities by helping local communities build and operate schools to educate the children, especially girls, and supporting women’s vocational centers, libraries and other educational resources in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Concurrently, CAI’s outreach efforts include educating the American and international public about the need to promote peace through expanding educational
opportunities.
Greg’s speeches, books and public appearances are the primary means of educating the American people on behalf of the Institute and he is CAI’s principal fundraiser. He devotes his time and his life to this important work. CAI’s activities and Greg’s are closely intertwined.
Greg worked for many years for little or no compensation, but is now paid a salary by the Institute as its Executive Director. In addition some of his expenses incurred to promote the Institute’s domestic education programs are, appropriately, paid by the organization.
His books are advertised and distributed by the Institute as a primary means of fulfilling its mission of educating the American public.
He receives speaking fees for many of his appearances (although he also volunteers his time for many audiences, including military preparing to deploy to Afghanistan) and royalties from the sale of his books.
Late last year, an attorney retained by CAI questioned whether these practices might raise issues of CAI providing “excess benefits” to Greg – an issue that was also raised by the American Institute of Philanthropy. The Board and Greg took these questions very seriously and asked counsel to conduct an in-depth review of CAI’s activities and its relationship with Greg. As a result of this analysis, counsel concluded there is no “excess benefit” -- that is, CAI appropriately receives a greater benefit from Greg’s activities than Greg does himself.
Through his work empowering communities in some of the most remote areas in the world, and through his successful books that share the stories of his experiences, Greg has accomplished the real and extraordinary work of bringing education to girls and boys in Pakistan and Afghanistan who otherwise would have no educational opportunity to enable them to help themselves and their communities. It would be truly tragic if the sensationalized allegations against him were to harm the future of this crucial work.
Journalist Jon Krakauer has published an expose of author Greg Mortenson with a new long form journalism site, Byliner. Follow this link before April 20th to download a free PDF copy; a Kindle Single edition will be published on Wednesday.posted by ericb at 2:13 PM on April 19, 2011
... Here’s more about the Byliner essay: “Mortenson has built a global reputation as a selfless humanitarian and children’s crusader, and he’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also not what he appears to be. As acclaimed author Jon Krakauer discovered, Mortenson has not only fabricated substantial parts of his bestselling books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, but has also misused millions of dollars donated by unsuspecting admirers like Krakauer himself. This is the tragic tale of good intentions gone very wrong.”
Yesterday a 60 Minutes report and author Jon Krakauer both accused author Greg Mortenson of fabricating incidents in his memoir–spawning a lawsuit threat and “serious questions” about his work in Afghanistan.posted by ericb at 2:26 PM on April 19, 2011
In his memoirs, Mortenson alleged that Taliban members kidnapped him during his work. CNN interviewed Mansur Khan Mahsud, a Pakistani think tank director included in a photo from this alleged kidnapping.
Mahsud told reporters he planned to sue over Mortenson’s defamatory claims. Mahsud shared an unpublished photo of Mortenson with his “kidnappers;” in the photo Mortenson holds a firearm and does not appear to be in danger.
The Takeaway interviewed Afghanistan-based BBC reporter Bilal Sawary about the allegations. He added: “Mortenson’s organization says that he’s built at least ten schools [in an eastern region of Afghanistan]. Provincial authorities could only confirm two; the rest were built by the provincial reconstruction team of the United States of America–the army which is there or the Swedish committee. So there are very serious questions … over the ownership of some of these schools.”
Mortenson has defended himself and his organization, the Central Asia Institute, in an interview with Outside magazine. His publisher, Viking, plans to review his two books for accuracy.
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