So on the plane home tonight I read my favourite magazine "Outside". I picked it up as it had an article in it about this amazing man named Greg Mortenson. He is one of my top living heroes. I was interested in his book "Three Cups of Tea" since he is a climber and I have an avid interest in Mountain climbing (I have only dabbled in this in Africa but not comparable to any base camp!). In 1993, Greg Mortenson nearly lost his life trying to climb one of the world’s highest mountains, K2 in northern Pakistan. Losing his Balti porter in a storm, reeling from his failed attempt, Mortenson stumbled into the village of Korphe in Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya region. They looked after him for 2 months(?) until he was strong enough to go home even though most villagers had never even seen a foreigner before!
While recuperating one morning, he the saw children huddled in the cold wind, on the top of a mountain scratching out lessons with sticks in the dirt. No teacher (one came by maybe every 20-30 days and give them lessons; then the kids would meet on the mountain daily with to study). And our kids today complain about school... Anyway, he was inspired and impetuously made a promise to the village’s leader, Haji Ali: He said "I will build you a school."
That promise took him to rock bottom and back again as he despaired while living in his car to save money for the school until a generous benefactor set him on his way (Jean Hoerni). It was this old man's dying wish to see the first school built, and it happened days before he died. They co-founded the Central Asia Institute to build schools for children in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Illiterate high-altitude porters (like Sherpas) have put down their packs to make paltry wages and risk their lives in order to educate their children. Former Taliban members have renounced violence and went to work with him as security forces to get him in and out of these war-torn regions. Mortenson's remarkable Odyssey reflects the astounding humanitarian reach that one person can generate.
Today his article was about the continuation of all the schools he has built since the book (62 to date). Makes me want to read the book again. Funny enough with the enemies he has made over the years (as he has relationships with many middle eastern diplomats and politicians, he has received the most intense threats from Americans themselves! They call him a Muslim supporter, terrorist etc. How pathetic is that?
Anyway, this is why the book is called 'Three Cups of Tea':
Greg learned quickly during his endeavors that in order to gain trust in the tribesman, you had to stay for three cups of tea. It is customary when you stay in one of their villages abd Greg has drank alot of tea since 1993! During the first cup, you are strangers; with the second cup, you become friends; and by the third cup, you are regarded as family and are willing to die for you if need be.
It really is all about building relationships you know.
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