I'm here sick in bed at home, and rather than only wipe snot out of my nose every minute (which is, admittedly, fun) I thought it would be a good idea to write a review of a fabulous book I just read, a book I must insist that everyone I know read.
The title is "Three Cups of Tea," and it is, hands down, my favorite book I have read in years. The book was written by Greg Mortenson and and David Oliver Relin, and it tells the long, intricate, utterly fascinating story of how Mortenson, stumbling down a glacier in 1993 after failing to summit K2, wandered into a small village high in the Himilayas, and ended up spending the next ten years of his life building over 55 schools for girls in the rugged, remote landscapes of northern Pakistan.
The book begins with Mortenson's treacherous descent down the Baltoro Glacier after failing to summit K2. He had become separated from his climbing partner and from his guide, and, in the unforgiving environment of the glacier at that altitude, his survival was precarious. He spent the night huddled close to a rocky wall to avoid being crushed by rockfalls while he slept, and somehow the next day he managed to reunite with his guide by following trails of cigarette butts left by military supply caravans traveling over the glacier. He later became separated again, and this time wandered into the small village of Korphe, haggard and disoriented. They took him in, covered him with their thickest blankets, fed him bread, lentil dal, and steaming mugs of a hard-to-stomach green tea called
paiyu cha made with rancid goat's milk, and let him sleep for days. He was too weak to do more than walk an hour or two each day, so he stayed with the villagers for a good while while he recovered, and explored a bit of the town each day.
Then one day came the sight that would change his life forever. Out of curiosity, Mortenson asked to see the village's school. They took him up to a bluff above the town, where students sat, exposed to the elements, patiently working on their multiplication tables. They had no teacher that day, as a teacher was very expensive and they had to share one with a neighboring town. The distant Pakistani government in Islamabad provided no money for a teacher or a school building this far up into the remote northern mountains. Mortenson was stunned by the sight of a class full of children sitting in the cold, patiently working on their assignments with no adult supervision whatsoever. He made a solemn promise to the villagers right then and there that he would return and build them a school.
He soon found out that this is far easier said than done, and back in his job as a night-shift nurse in Berkeley, California, he sought out ways to raise enough money to return to Pakistan and purchase materials for a school. Being completely computer illiterate, he spent weeks on a rented typewriter penning letters to whatever celebrities he thought might contribute a little money. Finally, an employee of the shop where he rented the typewriter, a Pakistani man, found out what he was typing the letters for and made it his goal to fully tutor him in the use of computers. With this new efficiency, he sent out over 580 letters asking for a donation to help build the school. He got a little money from Tom Brokaw, but that was it.
Then, one day Mortenson's luck turned around. He got a call from a wealthy Swiss living in Seattle, a former mountain climber and pioneer of the superconductor industry named Jean Hoerni. He was fabulously wealthy and had read about Mortenson's project in a climbing magazine. Hoerni reasoned that since no one was generally interested in helping Muslim communities, he was going to have to help this guy out himself. He point-blank asked Mortenson how much it would cost to build a school. Mortenson had already consulted with local artisans in Pakistan and had plans drawn, and believed it could be done for $12,000. Hoerni was incredulous that the figure was so low, but mailed him the check and told him not to mess up.
I don't want to give the book away, but suffice it to say, Mortenson went through unbelievable amounts of trouble in the process of getting that first school built. It took years of toil, negotiation, bargaining, scheming, confrontations, numerous trips home and back, and a lot of sitting around with village elders chatting, before the school finally went up. Over the next ten years and beyond, there was more of this to come than can possibly be imagined. The remarkable thing about this man, Greg Mortenson, was how well suited to it he was, and how much of a deep connection he was able to make with these people.
News quickly spread of this American man trying to build schools for the poor children of northern Pakistan, and his legend and reputation soared to the remote corners of every village and valley. Over the years, as Pakistan became more dangerous for a foreigner, whole populations would swear to defend his safety with their lives, if necessary. Such was the connection he built with these people that they saw him as family, first and foremost.
With so many intervening episodes I couldn't even begin to list them, his organization eventually swelled to become the Central Asia Institute, and it successfuly channeled millions of dollars into northern Pakistan to cheaply and efficiently build schools, work centers, irrigation projects, anything that the villages told him could help. The villagers themselves built the schools with their own labor, and each school became a focal point of local pride.
His schools provided, for the first time ever, an education for the girls of the region, who had traditionally been denied one. I think the most heartwarming thing in the book was the tales of all of these conservate Muslim men, even conservative Shia clerics, wholeheartedly supporting Mortenson in his endeavor to provide a balanced education for the girls of their communities. In a place that is considered so backward, to have men who could see the wisdom and goodness in this idea is truly wonderful.
The sheer adventure of his undertaking is thrilling enough, even without the staggering humanitarian achievment he has accomplished. The Himilayas are a rough, beautiful, remote frontier, and the adventures and danger he goes through keep you on the edge of your seat. There is so much more adventure, joy, tears, wisdom, hopefulness, and passion in this book that I can't even begin to capture it here. My main point in writing this is to spread the good word about Greg Mortenson's story. He started his work in Pakistan long before September 11th or the rise of the War on Terror, for the purpose of providing to the children of the poor villages of northern Pakistan a chance to have an education. However, it is his firm conviction that winning the war against terror will never be accomplished with military might alone. Only education can stem the fires of extremism which have caused so much pain around the region and the world. In his words, we must provide young people in the poorest reaches of the Islamic world "a reason to choose life over death."
I cannot recommend this book enough. You can pick up a copy on Amazon.com for only $8.99. It will thrill you, make you smile, make you cry, and make you think, but most of all it will warm your heart to see the power of one individual to make a difference. Enjoy
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Cups-Tea-Mission-Promote/dp/0143038257/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8804113-5908806?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192364677&sr=8-1
