Three Cups of Tea

Greg Mortensen deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, or maybe sainthood. The work he has done and continues to do in Pakistan and Afghanistan is truly inspirational, and this book does a fantastic job of telling his story. I had a little trouble at first getting used to the book being written in the third person (by co-author David Oliver Relin) although it was clear that Relin was not there for most of these events. But over time, I got used to it and it didn’t bother me. Moreover, I can’t think of a better way of telling the story. And what a story it is, starting with his near death experience attempting to climb K2, developing a deep bond with the villagers who nursed him back to health, living in and out of his car in Berkeley while trying to raise money to open a school in Pakistan, and other brushes with death such as when he was kidnapped in Waziristan. Oh, and in the meantime, he falls in love, marries, and has two children.

Mortensen and the Central Asia Institute, which he founded, have now built 61 schools, mostly for girls, in Pakistan and Afghanistan; and the links he has forged with the people there offer some hope against Muslim extremists who breed terrorism. That he has done this all at such great personal cost, both to himself and his family, only makes his accomplishments more extraordinary.