WATERVILLE (AP) – Speakers at the 188th Colby College commencement in Waterville highlighted the importance of education in fueling hopes for a better future in Afghanistan.

Greg Mortenson, co-author of “Three Cups of Tea,” told graduates Sunday that the Taliban in the last two years has destroyed more than 800 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But the good news, according to Mortenson, is that the number of children being educated in Afghanistan has grown from 800,000 nine years ago to 7.6 million today.

Also addressing the commencement was senior class speaker Qiamuddin Amiry of Kabul, who’s co-founder of the Afghan Scholars Initiative.

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