One Man On a Mission to Build Schools In Remote Pakistan: Three Cups of Tea

It took over two months to get my hands on Three Cups of Tea One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time as there were a backlog of requests for it through the inter-library loan system. There are fifty more people behind me wanting to read this book. Of course they, as I, probably heard about it from Tom Brokaw on television. This book will inspire you, assure you even that your smaller efforts in the world do not go unseen and they do matter. It is a true story of Greg Mortenson who came to fall in love with the people of rural Pakistan.

How did this come to pass? Greg came to climb K2 mountain in memory of his sister who had died. His sister was born with special needs and struggled each day. He came to know about people doing the impossible through his sister's life. Greg Mortenson is an American but lived in a foreign country as his parents were missionaries. His life did not seem to have a direction until he was lost on that mountain and rescued by a man from Pakistan. Seeing the desolate village and being cared for by people who had little, Greg had his eyes opened to a new world. Before he left them, he promised to return and build a school for the children who did not even have a teacher! He was shocked to see that the students gathered each day together and wrote in the dirt with sticks, practicing multiplication tables. In America again, he worked and tried to gather money from donations to build the school for them. Finally he was able to return and buy materials for the school...not understanding the Pakistan ways of business at first, hence the title. For every purchase at least three cups of tea were drank, making Greg feel a little waterlogged by the end of the day. Of course the people in the village are shocked to see that he has returned and is making good on the promise to build a school. Being so remote, getting the building materials up the nonexistent rocky steep roads is a feat in itself! Other obstacles hamper the process of building the school but once it is finished, Greg doesn't stop there. His new calling is to build schools in Pakistan remote villages especially for the girls in his sister's honor.

I found Greg Mortenson's spirit and fearless nature a little disconcerting. To be in a remote village in Pakistan with little to no money and not be afraid of the Taliban? He is a brave soul! A man who says that terrorism will be lessened by building schools and educating the people. The book has a very slow start talking about his climb on the mountain...the pictures he paints will not be forgotten but did he really need that many words to talk about that mountain? Sample text: Slamming over the so-called Karakoram "Highway" in his old Land Cruiser, taking great personal risks to seed the region that gave birth to the Taliban with schools, Mortenson goes to war with the root causes of terror every time he offers a student a chance to receive a balanced education, rather than attend an extremist madrassa. There are black and white pictures of Mortenson as a child and also ones as an adult with his wife and baby. One picture disturbed me of he and his wife holding rifles and their nine months old son. The pictures show Pakistan friends too. An inspiring 349 page tale of what Mortenson has accomplished in remote villages of Pakistan. It gives us all hope that anything is possible when we set our minds to something!

What is so good about THIS book?

True story, building schools in Pakistan, one man on a mission

What is unique about this book?

True story of Greg Mortenson.

Is it worth the price?

Yes a must read!

There has to be some bad to this book, right?

Long long sentences that get wordy.

Any warnings people should be aware of?

None

Final verdict:

An inspiring 349 page tale of what Mortenson has accomplished in remote villages of Pakistan. It gives us all hope that anything is possible when we set our minds to something!