Three Cups of Tea

2006 Greg Mortenson
ISBN 978-0-141-03426-3

From the jacket - 'In 1993, after a terrifying and disastrous attempt to climb K2, a mountaineer called Greg Mortenson drifted, cold and dehydrated, into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram Mountains. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty-five schools in remote villages across the forbidding and breathtaking landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan, just as the Taliban rose to power. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit'.

According to the book, in 1962, Mortenson's parents moved to Moshi in Tanzania to work as Lutheran missionaries. While his father Dempsey threw everything he had into raising money for and founding Tanzania's first teaching hospital Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), his mother established the Moshi International School for expatriates' children. When KCMC was up and partially running, against the wishes of others on the board, Dempsey focussed on offering medical scholarships to promising local students. When the 640-bed hospital was completed, Julius Nyereri spoke at the official opening and Dempsey predicted "In ten years time, the head of every department of KCMC will be a Tanzanian".

It was from this background that Mortensen came. The book shows that, in process of time, he came into a tremendous sense of calling and purpose that drove him on through trials and testings that you would normally read about only in Christian books about pioneer missionaries. In fact you may suppose as the story unfolds that Mortenson is being led by the Holy Spirit who is putting situations and people into his path at exactly the right time (divine appointments), and yet Mortenson becomes acceptable to tribal leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan precisely because he does not exhibit trappings of Christianity, is a circumspect man of integrity, does not drink alcohol, and is strongly moral and respectful.

Tribal leaders checked him out very carefully before they gave him their support and gave it once they were convinced that to their minds he was not a Christian and not a degenerate westerner. And when they gave him their support it was wholehearted, even though he was an American and found sometimes to have friends among the US military.

This is a very remarkable book showing as it does the remarkable wisdom of God in using a nothing - Greg Mortenson - to bring help to Pakistan and Afghanistan where western governments appeared to have little or no impact - completely out of proportion to their vast resources.

The sequel, Stones into Schools, is every bit as interesting to read. 'In this dramatic first-person narrative, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving an eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban. He shares for the first time his broader vision to promote peace through education and literacy, as well as touching on military matters, Islam, and women – all woven together with the many rich personal stories of the people who have been involved in this remarkable two-decade humanitarian effort'.

About the Author: Greg Mortenson is a former mountaineer and ER nurse, and is cofounding Director of the Central Asia Institute, raising $2.8 million dollars each year through tireless campaigning for modest individual donations. His previous book Three Cups of Tea has sold over 3 million copies in the US. He is the recipient of Pakistan’s highest civil award (The Star of Pakistan) for his sixteen years work to promote education and peace in the region. He lives in Montana with his family.