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Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time | 
| Authors: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $5.65
You Save: $9.35 (62%)
Rating:  1086 reviews
Sales Rank: 13
Media: Paperback
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0143038257
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.82209549
EAN: 9780143038252
ASIN: 0143038257
Publication Date: January 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Spine creasing, edge wear. cover curl. Square, with unmarked text.
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Product Description
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Talibans backyard Anyone who despairs of the individuals power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistans treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schoolsespecially for girlsthat offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortensons quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1081 more reviews...
Inspiring and hopeful July 5, 2008
Laura_in_Chicago (Chicago, IL United States)
The title of the book is a reference to the customary way of doing business in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other parts of Central Asia:
For the first cup of tea, you are a stranger. By the second cup, you are a friend. By the third cup, you are family. It is a testament to the patience and understanding it takes to forge the kind of long-lasting ties to work in this region of the world.
By far, one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. Greg Mortenson single handedly started an initiative to bring education to rural Pakistan. I wish I had gotten a chance to read this before finishing my thesis on education reform for women in Afghanistan - because this story is more directly related to my work than any other book or journal article I used. It shows how one dedicated person can change the world.
Through persistence and a little luck, he made the right connections in Pakistan (and eventually Afghanistan) and in the U.S. with donors. This book recounts his efforts from their inception in 1996 after getting lost in the Himalaya through 9/11 and up to 2003 when the war in Iraq diverted promised American resources from Afghanistan (again). His work survived a kidnapping in Waziristan, several fatwas (that were eventually overturned by the highest mufti in Iran), and death threats (most of which came from his fellow Americans after 9/11 in the form of "how dare you help Muslims").
After getting separated from his guide leading him off the Baltoro glacier in Northern Pakistan after a failed attempt to scale K2, Mortenson found himself in a little village called Korphe in Baltistan, Pakistan. The first Westerner ever to stumble into Korphe intrigued the people. After being nursed back to health and served what little food the people had to offer, he witnessed children in Korphe studying outside, with no teacher and no school, scratching lessons in the dirt. He promised the village elder Haji Ali that he would build them a school, went back to the US, began writing letters and grants while living out of his car. After sending 580 letters, a single $100 check from Tom Brokaw, and $600 in pennies raised by elementary school children was the net result.
Then, fellow Mountaineer, physicist and silicon-valley pioneer turned philanthropist Jean Hoerni agreed to donate $12,000 for the school. Mortenson sold everything he owned, and returned to Pakistan, forged business ties and purchased supplies only to discover that the village did not yet want a school - but a bridge. Korphe was inaccessible except for a single hand-pulled makeshift lift cart that spanned the Braldu river. There was no way to get supplies into Korphe. Rather than storming off like many impatient Americans would, Mortenson entered a partnership with the people of Korphe - valuing their opinions, customs, and assessments of their own needs rather than dismissing them as primitive or assuming that an American knows what's best for them.
As Mortenson has said, it took 3 years and a lot of mistakes, but the Korphe school was finally built and has sent many of Korphe's children on to local towns for further education - including many girls.
It's a stunning account of an extraordinary man, who through his humility and respect for the people of the region, worked with them, heeding their input and their cultural norms, was able to do what no other humanitarian organization could -- build schools focusing on girls' education and bring long-lasting, meaningful change to one of the world's poorest and most unstable regions of the world where outsiders are usually regarded with cautious suspicion.
With Jean Hoerni's help once again, Mortenson founded the Central Asia Institute (see link to the left) and has built over 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1996 and has provided countless services and monetary support for education in these regions.
He is fighting the war on terror with the only effective ammunition - education. Give people education, and you give them the means to take control of their own lives. In areas where the only free education available is in the form of conservative, fundamentalist madrassas (many funded by the Saudi government), access to broad general education is key to fighting terrorism while forging ties with the very people we're trying to help.
It costs $1 per day to pay a teacher in Afghanistan or Pakistan - Go, do something.
Required Reading - You listening, Bush? July 5, 2008
Don Morrison (Knoxville, TN USA)
Okay, so the writing ain't supoib, but hey, you gotta see the forest through the trees. This is an important book that should be required reading for everyone, as someone in these reviews said, who is educated or uneducated. Who reads or doesn't read. I've chosen to give copies as door prizes at my talks on volunteering overseas. (CAI doesn't take volunteers, sorry.) Yes, "the defenseless sky" and other such phrases cause little bumps in the readers' road, but the story transcends all this surface noise. Greg can easily find a different writer next time, but please let the story continue. And be careful, Greg!
An authentic life July 4, 2008
Carol W. Nichols (Quincy, IL USA)
Today is the fourth of July, 2008. What we aspire to, what we celebrate, what we fear -- are so far removed from the reality of one man attending to the basic needs of all humans on earth. There is no terrorism, there is no war that does not find its roots in the two children who clung to the robes of "Christmas Present," so many years ago. These two plagues of "ignorance and want" - the children of humankind - are what cause war and fuel terrorism. Put your minds and hearts to that simple fact. Read this book and turn all the energy, wealth and good intentions of this country to affecting a real solution. This book and its lessons are a must for making ourselves and our leaders truly authentic and of value to the world and to our own county.
If you only read one book this year, make it this one! July 4, 2008
Patrick Bonish (North America)
In a time when the words `Middle East' can bring up such anger, why would you want to read a book about that area? Well for starters this book isn't about anything to do with the ongoing war you hear about every night on the news.
3 Cups of Tea is a more 'behind the scenes' look at many of the areas that never make headlines on any of our news stations. What this book is about is one man, Greg Mortenson, who puts his life on the line to try to end the war, the way it should be ended, with books, not bombs.
The Taliban believes that keeping the population ignorant is the best way to keep them following the same ways they've been following for the past few hundred years. When the Taliban comes into an area, they burn every book except for the Koran. They know if their population was to become educated, they'd know that war will never solve anything.
What Greg Mortenson is doing is amazing. Never before have I felt so utterly useless when comparing myself to what he's done. Never before have I finished reading a book and wanted to do something to make a difference for others. Why isn't our government going at it like Greg Mortenson is? To read this book just makes so much sense.
This book should be required reading for everyone who thinks they have an opinion on the Middle East. If there is one book you read this year, make it this one, you won't be disappointed. [...]
Support This Mission July 4, 2008
Dick S. (Spring Creek, NV.)
This is an incredible story and it makes so much sense. Who can argue with the root cause of the rise of radical fundamentalists being directly related to ignorance. The book also will help dissipate the generalized negative image of muslims as all being the same. We've abandoned Afghanistan again and have mixed relations with Pakistan and don't understand how the Taliban and other radical groups continue to grow. Greg Mortenson is an amazing man who certainly deserves a Nobel award for his efforts. At the very least his organization, The Central Asia Institute, deserves a contribution from any of us wanting to see a real reduction in the threat to this country.
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