3 Cups of Tea
Amy January 31st, 2009
I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It is a really good book about a guy who was an accomplished mountain climber, but after he gets lost coming off K2 he ends up in a remote tiny village. After seeing their “school”, an area outside where the kids were doing their lessons in the dirt with sticks, he vows to come back and build a school. This has led him on a new direction for his life and he has since built several schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This book shows another aspect of terrorism and wars. His philosphy is that in order to fight terrorism for the long term, that education is the key. If the poorest of poor have no options other than the radical madrassas for education, then the teachings of hate will only grow. And it really makes you think about how the radiacal Islamists are going about this war. They are in it for the long haul and are looking down the road 20, 30, 40 years. They are planting the seeds now. If we don’t do something to counter this, then I wonder what type of world my kids will be living in. After the invasions and the purging and the military might, what do we need to do in these countries to promote peace and understanding and tolerance? Greg’s philosophy to me has a lot of merit, but it is going to hard to counter the oil money that is being spent on madrassas (not all of which are radical, but enough are). I wish him luck and I think that I have found a worthwhile charity that really seems to be making a difference. He has the connections and makes sure that these schools are being built. The money is not being funneled off to some warlord who is using it to buy guns for his own militia rather than improving the lives of the villagers.
I recommend this book and I hope it is as meaningful to you as I found it.
