Facebook
Digg
del.icio.us
StumbleUpon
“Fighting terrorism is based on fear and promoting peace is based on hope,” says Mortenson. When the book—which details Mortenson’s experiences in Pakistan and Afghanistan that led to the establishment of schools—was first published in hardback, the subtitle read, One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations … One School at a Time.
Mortenson urged his publishers to change the subtitle to match his vision for promoting peace. But it wasn’t until the sales of the original hardback did not do well that the publishers agreed to change it when the paperback version came out. It now reads, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time.
In the 104 weeks Three Cups of Tea has been on the New York Times bestseller list, including 27 weeks at number 1, it has sold over 2.3 million copies in 29 countries. Mortenson recently released two new versions of the book, one for young readers and another for small children.
Three Cups of Tea is the story of a man on a mission to educate children, especially girls, in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. What started in 1993 as a promise to a village that nursed him back to health after he failed to reach the summit of K2 became a mission to promote peace by building schools and promoting education for children, especially girls, ages 5–15, worldwide.
Mortenson has what he calls his “academic” reasons for wanting to educate girls: Once a girl is educated past the fifth grade, infant mortality rates go down, population growth slows down, and the quality of health improves.
He also has personal observations about the benefits of educating females from his years of work in these countries. Once a girl learns to read and write, she helps her mother write letters to the family, decreasing their isolation. Mothers will ask their children to read newspapers to them (food brought from the market place is often wrapped in old newspapers). Further, educated mothers are much less likely to let their sons join the Taliban or other militant groups. Mortenson believes that educating girls breaks the power of religious extremists.
“People themselves have such a fierce desire for education ... they see it as a path to prosperity,” says Mortenson. In fact, when he asks people in Pakistan and Afghanistan how he can help, most people tell him they don’t want their babies to die, and they want their girls to go to school.
The book chronicles not only his journey to build schools and provide education to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but his efforts to influence hearts and minds here in the United States. As a reader, it is hard to miss Mortenson’s compassion and determination as he makes his way through Pakistan and Afghanistan. He painstakingly builds trust with everyone from village chiefs, to clerics, military leaders, the children he ends up building schools for, and strangers eager to help his cause.
Although most people he encounters support his work, he says he also has critics, both in the United States and in Pakistan. Some fear that his work has been for naught, as the Taliban are again aggressively destroying girls’ schools in the region.
According to UNICEF, in 2007 and 2008, militant groups have bombed or destroyed approximately 519 schools. And in Pakistan, since 2007, militants have blown up or burned down more than 170 schools—over 70 percent of these schools are girls’ schools.
Mortenson believes that one cannot underestimate the impact of the education that people are now receiving.
“Why are the Taliban bombing girls’ schools?” asks Mortenson. “Their greatest fear is not the bullet, but the pen.”
As an example of the power of girls’ education, Mortenson relates the story of Aziza, a woman from a village of 4,000 people in the Charpusan Valley in Pakistan. She was the first girl to get an education in her valley where there is no doctor, no medicine, and no clinic. When she first went to school, the boys threw stones at her. In 2000 she graduated from high school to become a maternal healthcare worker. Before 2000, 5 out of 20 women died during childbirth in the valley, but since Aziza’s graduation in 2000, there has not been even one such fatality.
Providing schools and an education to Pakistanis and Afghanis is only part of Mortenson’s work. His greater mission is to promote peace one child at a time, whether in Pakistan and Afghanistan, or in the United States.
He has received thousands of e-mails and letters from readers giving him suggestions on how to make his work more accessible to younger children. Mortenson says children see his book as being “about building relationships and friendships.”
Since the original release of Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson has been traveling and giving talks at jam-packed venues across the United States including universities, high schools, and elementary schools.
“When I go to schools,” he says, “I see that children really want to make a difference in the world. [They] want to help.”
January marked the release of the young reader’s edition and the children’s picture book edition of Three Cups of Tea. The young reader’s edition is complete with a map detailing various cities and villages that Mortenson visits on his regular journeys to Pakistan and Afghanistan. It also includes a timeline, glossary, and a candid Q & A with his 12-year-old daughter, Amira, including her feelings about having a father who is gone so often to a volatile part of the world.
These two new titles are part of a seemingly natural progression to speak to the needs of people—especially children—eager to know more about their world, eager to build friendships, and eager to help.
Mortenson says his connection to children both in Central Asia and the United States is what gives him faith and determination.
“I feel like they are part of my family,” says Mortenson about the young people he encounters. “When I look into the eyes of the children, I see my children; we as parents and adults, we should leave our children a legacy of peace.”
Pennies for Peace is another outgrowth of his work with children. Fifteen years ago, Mortenson told a group of children of his desire to build a school for children who had to learn their multiplication table outdoors on the ground, using sticks, in a place where a penny could buy a pencil. Moved by his story, they donated their pennies to Mortenson to help build that school. In 2009, approximately 6,000 schools around the world will participate in this educational and philanthropic program.
His work has also brought him into direct contact with U.S. policy makers and military leaders, including U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General David Petraeus, Chief of U.S. Central Command. Although the U.S. government has offered, he does not take any money for his work from them.
According to Mortenson, Gen. Petraeus has read his book and quotes him as saying he learned three things from it, “one, build relationships, two, we need to listen, and three, we need to have respect for other people.”
The title Three Cups of Tea itself is a reference to the Pakistani and Afghani cultures’ emphasis on hospitality and loyalty to friends and family. Mortenson finds comfort in the fact that Mullen, Petraeus, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will stay on in the Obama administration. The established relationships between these men and leaders in the region will be critical to building the momentum toward progress in the region, he says.
He also has a suggestion for our new president: “Obama should go to Afghanistan, and hear the people say, ‘We don’t need firepower, but brainpower ... most of all we need education.’”
In March 2009, the government of Pakistan will honor Mortenson with its highest civil award, the Star of Pakistan, for his courageous and humane work to promote education and literacy in Pakistan.
If the popularity of Three Cups of Tea,<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> the overwhelming attendance at his speaking engagements, and his growing reputation are any indication, both Americans and other people around the world are hearing his message ever more clearly—education, especially for girls, is a path to ending the cycle of terror, and a path to peace.
You need to be a member of For a Better World to add comments!
Join this social network