I have just finished reading Three Cups of Tea, the story of ex-mountaineer Greg Mortenson building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to read over spring break. It does a nice job of introducing the reader to the complexities of tribal politics in northern Asia, while also emphasizing the impact one individual can have if they put their own ego aside and "just get after it". While Greg Mortenson is obviously an extraordinary individual he is also a person with whom the reader can relate and will often prompt the reader (at least he did with me) to ask themselves what might happen if we could all just follow a vision of action driven by respect and caring for others. Of course being oblivious to the impossibility of a task and simply soldiering along also seems helpful.
Being an educator I was particularly interested in the book's message about the value of education in promoting peace and fighting poverty and oppression. It was both inspiring and frustrating to read about how much importance was put on simply putting dedicated teachers in front of youth who saw education as way to improve not only their own lives but the lives of future generations. The planning of Mortenson's Central Asia Institute is focused on how to get resources to students and teachers who are assembled in open fields, deserts, mountain valleys, back alleys and cramped basements trying to create some type of classroom environment. Meanwhile here in the "developed" world education is taken so much for granted that most of our planning meetings revolve around how to deal with chronic non-attendance.
Mortenson does not come across as a rebel or a man driven by a need to buck the system so Three Cups of Tea never comes across as one of these "I took on the establishment and won" stories. Moretenson is definitely not a "Crazy Joe Clark", instead he is simply a person who recognized a need and continually takes small steps toward meeting that need. The most powerful part of the story is the way Mortenson goes about his work always seeking the advice of those he is trying to help and creating a process that was respectful of traditions and cultural values.
