Greg Mortenson & Three Cups of Tea

In our western world, I think we take for granted something that is an unheard of luxury in much of the rest of the world. Schools. Not education so much as there is room for improvement within our educational systems, but the actual physical building we call a school. At least our children have a roof over their head.

I am currently reading Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Greg Mortenson began the quest of building a school in one small, impoverished village in Pakistan after the people nurtured him back to health after a failed attempt at K2. I am only part way through the book - he is just about to start construction on the first school - and I am already gripped by this man’s struggle to fulfill a promise to the people of Korphe.

For anyone who has noticed, I have links to Amazon for a few choice products on this blog. There has always been the intention that any money earned would go to a charity that touched my heart in one way or another. Most people that know me would assume it would be an animal charity because of my deep love for our furry friends both wild and curled in their bed by the fireplace. I am very vocal and often step onto my soapbox about animal rights, abuse, misinformation, and anything else that happens to fuel my verbal ire at the time. Lord help anyone who is around me then!

However, there is something touching about this man’s work. Something quiet and contained with no need to debate, berate, or step on anything like a soapbox about education, literacy, and a school in every village. Who would argue back? What possible debate could there be? Would someone really take the stance that children do not deserve to have a solid roof over their head while they learn their letters?

Being both a writer and an avid reader, it seems to make some cosmic, bigger-then-me sense to give any money earned from this blog to Greg Mortenson’s cause, the Central Asia Institute.

Learn more about Greg’s work and ways of helping the children of remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan through Central Asia Institute’s community-based education and literacy programs.

And thank you Aunty Linnea for loaning me this wonderful book!