Props to Penguin Group, which announced it has built a school in Afghanistan in partnership with the U.N. Refugee Agency and the U.S. Association for UNHCR.

The school was built after Afghan-native and Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini was named a U.S. envoy to UNHCR. Last year, Hosseini went to Afghanistan and saw a need for better education in a country where students were taught by teachers under trees or in tents. The new school teaches 270 students grades one through six.

Hosseini has been sharing Afghan’s culture with readers for years with his book The Kite Runner.

“Over the past few years, I have been humbled by the outpouring of empathy and compassion from my readers for the people of my homeland,” Khaled Hosseini said. “It is a great honor to me when readers write me to say that they have found a personal connection to Afghanistan and the suffering of its people through my novels. To me, this school is the physical expression of that connection."

Riverhead Books VP Geoffrey Kloske added, "We are sincerely grateful to Khaled Hosseini for inspiring us to turn our attention to a community in need halfway around the world. We are honored to be working so closely with Khaled and UNHCR to provide a more fertile learning environment for the children of Afghanistan, who may very well become our leaders of tomorrow."

It’s good to finally report on more than massive celebrity book deals. Thanks Penguin.

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