Three Cups of Tea

I’ve just finished reading ‘Three cups of Tea’, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace …. One School at a Time. Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin team up to tell Greg’s life story, and what a story it is! One often hears the cliché sayings about how much difference one person can make in this world, and Greg’s story proves it.

Greg was an avid mountain-climber and adventurer. On one of his attempts to climb K2 in Pakistan, Greg wandered off and got separated from the group he was with and came close to death as he was exposed to the extreme cold without food or drink. He found himself in the tiny tucked-away village of Korphe where the villagers showed him kindness and incredible hospitality despite their poverty.

‘Here we drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third you join our family; and for our family we are prepared to do anything – even die’, said Haji Ali, the Village chief. And the people of Korphe did become like a family to him. Greg was moved by the circumstances of their lives, especially the fact that the children didn’t have a building to school in and were schooling in a group under the trees. Greg promised to return and build a school in the village

Greg returned to America after that expedition determined to raise funds and return to this village and build a school, especially to offer the girls in Pakistan the chance to get an education. An average citizen, Greg didn’t have the necessary resources or wealthy contacts to make this project possible. His is a story of true determination and self-sacrifice as he braves the unknown in every possible way.

Greg does return to Korphe to build a school and then builds another and another in the many poor, forgotten villages across Pakistan and also Afghanistan. In the end, he built not one, but 55 schools together with the local people in each village. Married with two small children, Greg has never considered his own life even when caught in the cross-fire between opium traders or kidnapped by the Taliban. He was actually in Pakistan when America was attacked on 9/11 and first finished his mission for that trip before heading back home. His message to post-9/11 America was that the real war of terror could not be won through war and murder, but by educating the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan. What an incredible investment!

Greg’s projects were sometimes resisted in Pakistan by religious and village leaders who thought he was coming to indoctrinate the children with Christian teachings or devalue the teachings of Islam, but time and time again their resistance was met with great support from the Sharia court and Leaders in power. They could see that this was not the case at all. At a time when the government resources for village schools did not find their way to the schools or when teachers weren’t being paid their salaries, Greg’s Central Asia Institute (CAI) was paying salaries and providing the resources needed for children to be educated.

I’m really inspired by Greg Mortenson’s story! While there are sections of the book that I found tedious to read, this book is one I really struggled to put down each night before bedtime! Seeing lives changed because of the kindness and commitment of one human-being is very inspiring! I really want to get my hands on ‘Stones for Schools’, the continuation of this story as Greg works to see schools built in Afghanistan in the wake of destruction left by the Taliban.

You can find out more at www.threecupsoftea.com and find out more about the pennies for peace project at www.penniesforpeace.org