Three Cups of Tea

There are books that are uplifting, there are those that are thought provoking, some even inspire you, and a few make you want to do more and be better. For me Three Cups of Tea was all of the above. If you haven't read it yet, go do it, I promise you will not only enjoy it, but be glad you read it. Basically it is about Greg Mortenson who after a failed attempt at climbing K2, in the Karakoram range near Pakistan/Afghanistan, ends up in a tiny village--Korphe. He notices the kids huddled together writing in the dirt with sticks practicing their lessons. Shocked and in disbelief he tells them he is going to build them a school.

The book is about that promise and what would do not only to Greg Mortenson's life, but also to the Muslim children and families that would have the opportunity to get an education. Greg Mortenson is making a difference in a part of the world that not only needs it, but has little or no love for the West. He is breaking down racial and religious barriers that heretofore have not been crossed except with bullets and explosions.

There are some very poignant scenes in the book such as when the school is built or when he was there for 9-11. Those two parts made me rethink everything I had been conditioned to think about Muslims and Pakistan. The book also shows the value and importance of a balanced education. How we take for granted this nearly free gift in the US and how vital it is in order to succeed.

Here are few other opinions:
'Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world .’ -Tom Brokaw

"Greg Mortenson represents the best of America. He’s my hero. And after you read Three Cups of Tea , he’ll be your hero, too." -U.S. Representative Mary Bono (R-Calif.)

"Three Cups of Tea is beautifully written. It is also a critically important book at this time in history. The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both failing their students on a massive scale. The work Mortenson is doing, providing the poorest students with a balanced education, is making them much more difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit." -Ahmed Rashid, best-selling author of Taliban: Militant Islam and Oil in Central Asia and Descent Into Chaos.

Go buy it, you'll be glad you did.