G is for Greg Mortenson (author)

Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson. The book details Greg Mortenson’s life, but really begins with the end of his sister’s. She had severe epilepsy and died quite young, resulting in his resolve to leave an amber necklace of hers at the top of K2 (the world’s second-highest mountain). After 70 days of climbing, it was a 75-hour rescue of another climber by Greg and three others that drained him of his last reserves of energy and forced his failure. On his voyage back down, he lost his way and stumbled into Korphe – a small village in north-eastern Pakistan. The people there nursed him back to health (which ironically enough is his own career). However, his life would be changed by the sight of children outside without a teacher, writing with sticks in the ground for their “lessons” and a promise to a little girl. He felt that more than anything, they needed a school and despite having no idea how he would accomplish the feat, he promised to build them one. After returning to the U.S., he did everything that he could to raise money for it: writing letters, speaking to groups (despite being very shy), working long hours as a nurse, and sleeping in his car, which, along with his climbing gear (his greatest passion), he would sell for the effort. It took many years and a number of setbacks (see I chose not to use the word failure from yesterdays post), but he fulfilled his promise. He also founded the Central Asia Institute and continued his quest to bring education (particularly for girls) to the most remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Stones into Schools” picks up in 2003 where his last book left off, focusing on another promise to build a school in an extremely remote area that would take more than 10 years to attempt to fulfill. As a backdrop, the book gives a first-hand perspective on the rise of the Taliban, the aftermath of September 11, and of course the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir that killed 86,000 people.