Three Cups of Tea

The first cup of tea, you are a stranger.
The second cup of tea, you are a friend.
The third cup of tea, you are family.

Greg Mortensen was today's speaker, the final speaker of the conference. I recently finished Mortensen's book, Three Cups of Tea, and was so interested in hearing him speak, that I missed my flight home. Fortunately, I was able to catch another flight on standby. In January, Mortensen was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I don't know when I'll have another chance to personally meet and listen to a Nobel Peace Prize winner, so carpe diem.

Similar to Spike Lee, Mortensen isn't a public speaker. But he does have such an amazing story to tell. What started as a failed attempt to climb the second highest peak in the world, became a promise to build a school for the Pakistan village that nursed him back to health, and is now an organization that has built 78 schools throughout rural Pakistan. The Central Asia Institute now helps to educate thousands of children, giving them a future that was never an option for them before.

I won't attempt to re-tell his story here because that would diminish it's beauty. It is a story that greatly moved me. Mortensen didn't start with a goal to build 78 schools in rural Pakistan. He saw a need, one school in one village, and he was moved to meet it. Greatness is simple. Maybe that is why it is so hard for people to obtain.

Mortensen's work has drawn the attention of the Pentagon, as he is considered an expert in an area of the world that our government is generally pretty ignorant about. The schools he builds are also seen as an alternative to the extremist jihad schools that poor Pakistani children would potentially attend. Mortensen as acutally been referred to as a fighter of terrorism. He likes to think of himself as a promoter of peace. In an address of Pentagon officials, he noted that the striker missiles used to bomb Afghanistan cost $800,000 a piece. These missiles may or may not strike their target. At their most "effective" they destroy alqaeda strongholds. At their worst, the kill innocent women and children, or maybe make a new hole in the side of a mountain. $800,000 could build 30 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, educating thousands of children and keeping them from attending the extremist jihad schools. Which one is the most effective "fighter" of terrorism?

"Fighting terrorism" Mortensen says, "is based on fear. Fear is perpetuated by ignorance, which is the real enemy. Promoting peace is based in hope."