Three Cups of Tea – A Book Review
Three Cups of Tea
One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
VIKING Hardcover 2006 ISBN 0-670-03482-7
You’re stranded in the bitter cold of the Karakorum mountain range in Pakistan. You’re separated from your guide and friends, alone, and without proper gear. What do you do? You keep moving!
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is the story of how one man kept moving. When Greg Mortenson failed to make the summit of K2, he was devastated, but worse than that he was lost. He had been separated from his guide twice, but managed to make it to the tree line alone. Once there, he soon wandered into the village of Korphi. Hospitality is not an option in this part of the world. You take in strangers. In spite of extreme poverty, Mortenson was taken into the village and nursed back to health in the home of the village elder Hajii Ali. Little did he know that Hajii Ali would become a close friend and a type of mentor as he did his work in Pakistan.
Living among these simple people, Mortenson was impressed by their friendliness and fortitude in the face of a difficult existence. Even though he was a nurse, the people of Korphi and surrounding villages began to call him Dr. Greg because of the basic medical care he dispensed. The people suffered from goiters, cataracts and malnutrition. One out of every three children died before reaching the age of one. And the nearest doctor was a week’s walk from the village.
Dr. Greg was also impressed by their hunger for knowledge. Although the teacher only visited Korphi three days a week, the students gathered every day for their lessons. Seventy-eight boys and four brave girls gathered to practice multiplication tables with sticks in the dirt. The village couldn’t afford a teacher of their own so they shared with a neighboring village. It cost one dollar a day for a teacher! When Mortenson left, he promised to return and build them a school.
As in many other parts of the world, the only way out of the desperate life of village survival is education. This was an option for a few fortunate boys, but for girls it was not an option in Pakistan. At least not in the mountains. For a girl to be educated, not only did she have to have money to leave the mountains, but for a male relative to accompany her. But girls, unlike many boys, if educated would return to the village and help improve the life of the villagers. This is what Mortenson wanted to see.
Three Cups of Tea is also about our approach to the world. In accepting the villagers exactly as they were Mortenson gained an acceptance that is very rare for a westerner in an Islamic country. This acceptance comes from the fact that he got to know them, their desires and needs, in the context of the life that is precious to them. He didn’t try to change them, just added value to what they already had.
Mortenson kept his promise. He did return, and the journey back to Korphi was in some ways as challenging as the ascent of the mountains. Through raising money, arranging for materials, and negotiating physical and political obstacles, Mortenson didn’t give up. And once the school was built, the need was still there, so he didn’t stop.
Beginning in the village of Korphe, Pakistan and continuing today in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, Morentson and the organizations he founded, Central Asia Institute and Pennies For Peace, have continued to build schools. As of 2008, they have completed 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, many of which are specifically for girls.
The writing in this book is excellent and the story inspiring. In my opinion, this is a must read for anyone who is interested in making our world a better place.
For more information see the following:
http://www.ikat.org (Central Asia Institute)
http://www.penniesforpeace.org (Pennies for Peace)
http://www.threecupsoftea.com (Three Cups of Tea)
Afghan refugees at school
Images courtesy Central Asia Institute.
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