Three Cups of Tea

Okay, now that I have read it, reread parts of it, cried over parts of it, and copied parts of it into my journal - time for a post about Three Cups of Tea.

Three Cups of Tea, subtitle: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, is written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is the story of Mortenson's work building schools in rural Pakistan, beginning with his promise to return and build a school for the village that nursed him back to health after a failed attempt to summit K2 and journeying with him more than 10 years to post 9/11 when he is able to reach Afghanistan, too, through the organization now known as the Central Asia Institute.

This book is an amazing testimony to the fact that one person CAN make a difference, especially when they approach their goal with heart and passion. It is inspiring to see the sacrifices that Mortenson and his family make because they are driven with a purpose: educating children. In many ways, this is Mortenson's own "war on terror" (though he began it long before that phrase had a reason to be familiar to us) because he believes that education is the only thing that can stop terrorism. In response to a Congressman who interrupted a presentation to say that this is all fine, but the point is security, so why does this matter, Mortenson said:
"I don't do what I'm doing to fight terror. I do it because I care about kids. Fighting terror is maybe seventh or eigth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I've learned a few things. I've learned that terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death."

This book has a story to tell, but it also has a lot to say about world understanding. Are we looking at the world as it really is and seeing into the heart of people to know who they really are?

I encourage you to please read this book. And if you have read it, talk about it. Because it is not just the people in rural third-world or developing countries who need education. We need it as well. We need to make sure we are seeing clearly.

If you are interested in learning more about the book, the website is www.threecupsoftea.com and if you're going to buy the book to read it, please buy it from that site so that 7% of the proceeds can go straight to a girls' education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Also, Pennies for Peace is designed to help educate our children and give them a way to help because children tend to have a heart for other children in a way that is beautiful to see. To learn more about that, the website is www.penniesforpeace.org

I could talk for ages about this, but don't want to take away from the book. But please, if you want to talk about it, I'd love to! :)