My body has traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Nobel material




So, how do you win the Nobel Peace Prize?
I don’t know either, but this guy should win it.

Three Cups of Tea – http://www.threecupsoftea.com/AboutBook.php


Get this book, and in the audio version, very well read.

It is at once a gripping adventure story and at the same time an autobiography of a remarkable man.
Greg Mortenson decides to climb K2 as a tribute to his disadvantaged sister who has passed away.
Having failed, he gets lost on the way down and is nursed back to health in a small Pakistani town.
After recovering he discovers this town has no school and the children are educated in a field.
The perseverance and tolerance of the people remind him of his sister and he vows to build them a school as a much better tribute to his sister.
And he does so, having no idea how and with no means of his own. He lives in his own car so that he can save all his money for expenses when he goes back.
And he doesn’t figure in his own costs to what he asks for from donors.
The end cost? $12,000 for a school that will be there forever.

What ensues is a lifelong occupation of traveling and raising money as head of the Central Asia Institute - http://www.ikat.org/
He ultimately builds fifty five schools, funds teachers and humanitarian efforts in one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Mortenson realizes that the greatest way to combat terrorism and Radical Islam is through education.
Prior to 9/11 Madrasahs are springing up all over Pakistan and Afghanistan. Run by Radical mullahs, they often offer the only option of education for people who have no prospects for their children. Offering full tuition, the Madrasah and it’s vehemence become their only purpose.
Mortensen knows that offering education, and especially to girls, it the best way to combat this and provide a future.
Already in the region when 9/11 occurs, Mortenson still travels back into Pakistan for another month as “he had projects underway to complete” despite frantic warnings from the state dept.
With one of the strongest understandings of the area and the conditions, Mortenson has a refreshing perception of the “war on Terror” and his experiences during those days.




Get this book (and how do we nominate him for the Nobel?)!

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