 For three years, from 1993-1996, Mortenson spent long periods of time in the Karakoram Mountain villages of Pakistan.His first project was a bridge over the Braldu River, which enabled the community and him to transport building materials to Korphe village, where he built his first school.Hoerni provided funding for these first two projects and subsequently established Central Asia Institute as a non-profit organization in the United States in 1996.