With everything going on in Pakistan at the moment, it was interesting to me that I was reading about all of these places mentioned in the papers right now in the book Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I have to say that it is one of the most memorable books I have read in quite some time and I loved every page of it. It tells a fascinating, true story and is written so eloquently and interestingly that it engrossed me so much more than non-fiction books usually do.
It’s inspiring because it is basically a story about one regular guy who makes a major difference in so many people’s lives. It starts out telling the story of Greg Mortenson, a rock climber who decides to fulfill a lifelong dream to climb K2, the world’s second-highest mountain on the border of Pakistan and China. Although his attempt is unsuccessful due to circumstances beyond his control, he ultimately befriends people in a small village in Pakistan called Korphe, near the base of K2.
He stumbles upon Korphe because he gets lost on his way back down the mountain, but as so many things in life, it turns out that a wrong turn ultimately changed everything for all parties involved. While he is in this village he comes to admire the people there who live in extreme poverty. He noticed that the children’s hair in the village was ginger due to a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. When he asked the village leader to see the town’s school, he is shocked to be taken to an area outside in an open field where all of the village’s children are attempting to learn. The village is so poor and so cut-off from the developed part of Pakistan that there wasn’t even a school.
Greg falls in love with the village and the people there and promises them that he will build them a school. And so it goes. I don’t want to spoil anything but let’s just say that he gets the job done and begins building more schools for Muslim children in Pakistan. Ultimately, it is his belief that the more educated people are, the less likely they are to join extremist groups like the Taliban, which recruits heavily in this area through madrassas. Madrassas are centers funded and set up by the Saudi Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam. It’s a conservative, fundamentalist offshoot and the official state religion of Saudi Arabia’s rulers, which is and was recruiting heavily in Pakistan.
Perhaps the book was doubly interesting to me because of the work that I did with the IRC in Aceh but I think that it would be interesting to anyone because it is so well written. The thing I loved about Greg was that he was really interested in educating impoverished girls in Pakistan who were denied an education until he came along. I loved the way that Greg wouldn’t let anything sidetrack him, although his dream cost him many relationships and personal and financial hardships.
I really wish that I could get George Bush alone in a room for 24 hours because I would sit him down and force him to read this book because it really is congruent with my philosophy that America is doing just about everything wrong in terms of “fighting terror.” Greg is an American who has the right idea – create peace by kind actions and true words rather than dropping bombs, which are only going to help extreme groups like the Taliban recruit innocent civilians whose families have been killed needlessly by American weapons.
It was interesting to me also because Rusel and I went to the drive-in last week when we were in Busselton and we saw A Mighty Heart, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Michael Winterbottom (who also directed an extremely interesting film called The Road to Guantanamo). I had been avoiding this film for some reason and although I’d had the opportunity to buy it for $1 bootleg in Indonesia and it was also on several planes on a few of my recent flights, I kept passing on it. It just seemed depressing and I sometimes find Angelina Jolie distracting because it is so difficult to separate the tabloid personality from the actress.
Regardless, this movie was surprisingly excellent and also set in Pakistan. I must say that Jolie was excellent as well and did a fantastic job disappearing into the part. As many people probably already know, it tells the story of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was killed in Pakistan. The story is told from the point of view of his wife, Marianne Pearl (played by Jolie).
What impressed me most was Marianne’s philosophy at the end of the film, when she knows that Muslim extremists killed her husband. Instead of wanting revenge, she encourages peace and understanding between nations and religions. To me, both Marianne and Greg are real-life heroes trying to make a difference in the world through understanding, education and peace. Rather than “an eye for an eye,” which is such a simplistic way of handing a complex problem, they ask people to understand and learn.
The movie was also interesting because I learned even more about Pakistan politics and extremists and because I was able to visually see some of the places and cities where Three Cups of Tea was set. It also made me realize how amazing Greg Mortenson’s story is and how lucky he is to be alive. As in Daniel Pearl’s case, Americans are great targets in Pakistan and it is a difficult place to negotiate. The fact that Greg has done everything that he has done there -- and live to tell about it – is nothing short of miraculous. It also gave me so much admiration for Daniel Pearl and his family.
I’ve been following everything in Pakistan in the papers lately and I’m worried myself about what will happen there in light of recent events. I’m also worried about Greg’s schools and the work that he is doing there. If you’d like to learn more about his work, read Three Cups of Tea or visit www.threecupsoftea.com. If you order the book from this web site, 7 percent will go toward a girls’ education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
A special thanks to my Mom, who bought the book for me and passed it along when we met up in Paris. And to Martin, Friska and Kari -- you guys would definitely love this book.
