One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
On the way to Central America this year I stopped into a borders bookstore in the Huston airport and purchased a couple of books for the journey. One of the books was “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson & David Relin, here’s a preview of the book. A couple of things about Greg caught my eye as I hungrily launched into the book. Greg and I had a couple things in common. We were both Army Medics and we both attended a Concordia University.
Of course there are plenty of things that we don’t have in common. Greg is almost 4 inches taller than my 6′0. He was a mountaineer, climbing a great portion of K2, the second highest peak in the world. Likewise he doesn’t seem to have a problem with being late. Suffice it to say that we had a couple things in common.
What’s so Awesome About This Book?
It’s written very well and tells a true story of how one “infidel” has made a huge impact on the people within Pakistan and eventually Afghanistan. The book took place a few years prior to, during, and a few years after 9/11/2003.( Do you still remember (never forget!) the resultant war in Afghanistan and Iraq that took place shortly there after? ) Greg was in Pakistan and saw first hand the impact that war had on the people of the region during and after the initial attacks on Afghanistan.
You see, Greg was there building schools and relationships with a diverse group of people before, during, and after the attacks. He saw the human suffering that engulfed the people of the region as a result of the our retaliation for the attack on the twin towers. Out of the chaos and uncertainty that the attacks created Greg, as a result of his perspective, was able to view the Muslim people like they were. He was able to share his perspective and h
Greg’s work in the region resulted in over 55 schools being built for people when the book came to an end. The work isn’t finished either. The non-profit Central Asia Institute is still at work in the region.
In Reflection
I was, like many Americans, unable to see the human side of Central Asia after the attacks of 9/11. When Bush said “dead or alive” I didn’t hear him talking about real people, he was talking about “terrorists”. It wasn’t until I was actually sent to Iraq that my understanding began to change. In fact my understanding hasn’t stopped changing as a result of my experiences there. In short I met a lot of really good Iraqi people, they were not terrorists.
Conclusion
There are a variety of things that could still be mentioned, certainly there are a lot of questions raised, when you reflect on how our individual perspectives can miss seeing so many details as covered in a book like this. Three Cups of Tea was a chance for me to reflect on how one man (or woman) can have such a large impact and bring about so much good, even amidst so much chaos.
