Three Cups of Tea

During our Big Sur vacation, I read a book called “Three Cups of Tea”. It is the true story about Greg Mortenson. He was a mountain climber who failed in an attempt to scale K2, the second highest mountain in the world (though it is considered more difficult to climb than Mount Everest). On the way back down, he got split up from the rest of his group and ended up staggering into a remote village in Pakistan. The village nursed him back to health and he promised to build them a school.

The true story recounts his efforts to build the school and 50 more in mountainous villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is in incredible tale about how one man can have such an impact on so many people. He returns to the US with no money, no job and no home, but he is quite determined to make good on his promise. He lives out of his car to save money. He decides to send 500 letters to solicit donations. He does not know who to address the letters to, so he picks politicians and other celebrities. He does not know how to use a computer (this was in 1993), so he rents an IBM Selectric typewriter for a day. In that day, he made so many mistakes that he only ended up with 5 letters to send out. He kept returning to write more letters. Eventually, someone took pity on him and taught him how to use a computer and he finally finished his letters. He got one return. Tom Brokaw sent him a $100 check.

Of course that did not deter Mortenson. It was an incredible struggle to raise the $12,000 for the first school. And that was just the beginning. You can imagine the obstacles of language, culture and religion when he returned to Pakistan. Plus there was an incredible journey to get the supplies to the remote village. Within several years Mortensen became a hero known across Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan.

I should point out that Mortenson did not do it all alone. While he is the catalyst, many others have helped him on the way. He recruited an interesting cast of characters in both Pakistan and the US to aid him. It was inspiring to read about others who would hear of what he was doing and then would make great sacrifices for the effort.

I can not recommend the book highly enough. It is filled with great stories and it is one of the most inspiring books that I have read in some time.