Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Like Mortenson, I'm a born-again humanitarian February 8, 2008
T. Gandhi
31 out of 31 found this review helpful
Due to lack of time, I normally take 15-20 days to get through a book. This one took only four though!
The book narrates the story of Greg Mortenson who decides to build a school for a village in the North of Pakistan. What inspired me most was the fact that Mortenson, an American national, himself lived 'on the edge' with no accomodation and barely enough money to buy the next meal. However, resolve and commitment to the cause allowed him to generate the necessary funds so that the promised school can be built.
What happened next was inevitable. The experiment proved to be such a success that one after the other he just kept on building schools and the money kept pouring into the accounts of the newly-found charity, Central Asia Institute.
If you have a spark for social responsibility, the book will serve as a catalyst to turn in to a fire. Got get it!
This should be essential reading for all secondary school students. April 1, 2008
Pumpkin (West Yorkshire, UK)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
I was, until my very recent retirement, the Headteacher of a Church of England primary school where 90% of pupils were Muslim and a majority of those came from the Punjab or Kashmir. I don't normally read non-fiction, but was attracted to this book because of its links to both education and the South Asian Muslim culture.
How glad I am that I chose it. What an inspirational story! I read it in two days. It gave such a true reflection of the real Islam, one which values education and most importantly values the contribution that women make to society. It reflected my experience of the Muslim culture over the many years I have worked with Muslim children and their families. I am neither a Christian, nor a Muslim, but have found that true Christians and Muslims respect each others faith.
Greg Mortenson endured great hardship, two fatwa and long separation from his family to pursue his dream of educational provision for all the children living in those isolated mountain or border regions. What a humanitarian! He really should be awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
The most inspiring book i have ever read April 23, 2008
R. Durham (Bristol, UK)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I strongly, strongly urge you to buy this book. Not only is it a fascinating read and a really entertaining story, the message behind it is utterly inspiring and one which needs to be spread to as many people as possible. If only there were more people in the world like Greg, the man is incredible. I can honestly say that it has fundamentally changed my views on religion, politics and the best way to make the world a safer place for everyone. Everyone i know who has read it feels the same. You won't be disappointed.
"The enemy is ignorance" July 25, 2006
Friederike Knabe (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
These words, spoken by Pakistani Brigadier General Bashir, symbolize an underlying thread in this extraordinary story. The fight against ignorance resulting from illiteracy and complete lack of economic resources is the primary theme of award-winning Journalist David Oliver Relin's account of a man with a mission: Greg Mortenson. Ignorance of local culture and customs, racial and religious prejudice are intimately linked to the failures in achieving lasting peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Education of the young, and in particular girls, are offered as an essential tool against ignorance. Building schools in remote and isolated regions of Pakistan has been Mortenson's passion for 13 years. Relin traces Mortenson's travels and encounters for a period of two years, interviewing many friends - and a few sceptics - along the way and recording months of discussions with Mortenson himself. The result is an action-packed adventure story with a deep moral and emotional centre. It depicts ten years in the life of a man who turned failure into strength, growing into a great humanitarian and dedicated fighter for the rights of tens of thousands forgotten poor in the tribal areas of this powder keg region of Central Asia.
Overcoming ignorance has also been a leitmotiv for Greg himself. After abandoning his climb to the top of K2, the second largest mountain in the world, he had lost his guide and then his way on the descent. Close to exhaustion, he reached Korphe, a small village high up in the Karakoram range of the Himalayas. As the villagers nurtured him back to strength he became increasingly aware of the extreme poverty of the region and the dire conditions of the children's school. The village could not afford a school building and a teacher for only three days a week at $1 a day. The children sat on the ground in the open scratching the writing they had learned in the packed earth. Mortenson was touched by the warmth and generosity that the people had offered him and promised them to come back and build a school.
The obstacle course that Mortenson undertook to raise the funds for the school is vividly shared with us. Starting from nothing, living out of his car to save money to a benefactor's surprise gift, he managed to raise the funds to return to Korphe with the building materials stockpiled in a nearby town. Haji Ali, the Korphe village elder, accepts "Dr. Greg" into his family, recognizing his special qualities. The old man, himself illiterate, has a few lessons to share with him, important advice that will lead to the successful completion of the Korphe school three years later. The fundamental lesson was patience and listening: patience to develop relationships with the local community, sensitivity to local traditions and customs; listening to what the people had to say first and, with them, finding solutions to the problem at hand. It would also mean that real partnerships for school building developed where the local people put up the sweat equity to match his funds for building materials. Learning from his mistakes and initial naivete Dr. Greg becomes a successful catalysts for building many more schools in other remote villages in Pakistan and later in Afghanistan. Over time, other essential programs, such as women vocational centres are also added.
Each return trip to Pakistan was a major step forward for Mortenson and his school program. What had started as a simple promise to one village, became his all-absorbing mission. The more he learned the more he became convinced that balanced, "non-extremist" education of children, and in particular girls, is a major building block in peace-building in the region. He found his vision mirrored that of many local leaders: village elders, mullahs, including the supreme leader of northern Pakistan's Shias, politicians and senior military officers. Increasingly, as his work became known, he could count on their participation and advice. They provided essential support when two fatwas were issued against him that would have forced him to leave the country. He opened a local office for his Central Asia Institute, staffed with a diverse group of advocates of his program, who took over the day-to-day management while he was "commuting" to the home base in Montana to raise the necessary funds.
Even since 9/11 and the war against the Taliban, Mortenson was able to continue his work, much admired by his local network of supporters. Relin's interviews confirm the overwhelmingly warm and positive attitude of local people toward the American Mortenson. Negative reactions, though, came from within the US, where people attacked him for "supporting the enemy". Mortenson stood his ground, arguing that lasting peace and security around the world can only be gained through education of the younger generations. Finally in 2003, following a major article on his work in Parade magazine, the tide turned for him also in the US. Donations poured into his small foundation, securing his ever expanding work.
"Three Cups of Tea" is not only a moving and heart-warming personalized story of what one person can achieve with determination and persistence. It is also a portrait of a part of the world that we should all know more about so that we learn to differentiate between enemy and friend. [Friederike Knabe]
Can't remember the last time I read something so inspiring May 12, 2007
M. van den Hout (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is the type of book you want to immediately go and buy for everyone. It's an awe inspiring story that makes you realise how much some people manage to get done in their lifetime - which makes me question what I might've contributed to making the world or areas a better place (I still need to start contributing but by reading something like this it does/ has inspired me to start). The way it was written makes it easy to read - and gives you real glimpse into Greg Mortenson's life. How easily things can change in a day. I really think this book is something everyone should read, and it should even be added to schools reading lists. Enjoy ;-)
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