Venus Rising

Film & BooksIssue: Aries 08

Three Cups of Tea

By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
VIKING Hardcover 2006 / PENGUIN Paperback 2007

Image courtesy Greg Mortenson, CAIAfter an unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, Greg Mortenson stumbled into the village of Korphe in Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya region. Emaciated, exhausted, and literally close to death, he was not sure he’d see the light of the next day. Haji Ali, the village’s leader and the entire community would nurse Mortenson back to life. The generosity and hospitality of the Korphe villagers inspired Mortenson to establish the Central Asia Institute (CAI). Since the establishment of CAI ten years ago, the organization has built 55 schools serving Pakistan and Afghanistan’s poorest children, especially girls.

In the process, Mortenson endured the natural elements of the Pakistani climate, fatwas against him from corrupt mullahs, a kidnapping as well as separation from the comforts of his own family. At home in Bozeman, Montana, he would deflect death threats from fellow Americans who considered him a traitor for aiding Muslims, and he would tolerate the false offers of monetary support for his efforts. Though he made mistakes, Mortenson persevered, and kept his promise to the village of Korphe. At the inauguration of one school, just shortly after the attacks on September 11, Syed Abbas, the leader of the Kuardu village, spoke:

“Our land is stricken with poverty because we are without education. But today, another candle of knowledge has been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in.”

Mortenson’s emphasis on books not bombs seems simple, yet as he and the reader knows, changing a culture takes much more than providing books, it requires educating children to read those books and then to communicate their thoughts. It requires making sure that teachers are paid and that an infrastructure to sustain those schools is in place.

Mortenson’s efforts have generated the support of politicians such as Republican Mary Bono. If only every politician would read this book and practice its approach to fighting terror, if only the world had an army of Greg Mortensons, only then, would we see the light called peace. 

Promote peace by reading this book and passing it on. Believe. Indeed, Mortenson’s story and his families’ sacrifices

        “Represent the goodness and courage that America is all about.”