Three Cups of Tea

This is some more catching up. I read this awhile ago, and simply must mention it. Three Cups of Tea was written by Greg Mortenson (from Bozeman, MT) and David Oliver Relin, and is the true story of Greg's failed attempt at reaching the summit of K2, getting lost and taken in by a village in Pakistan, and his subsequent promise to build them a school (their kids were sitting out in the open, at 10,000 feet, trying their best to learn with no supplies while trying not to freeze). He recovered and eventually headed home. For a lot of people, this is where the story would end. Greg, however, is not a lot of people. He scraped together money from wherever he could find it, he learned much about the customs of a completely foreign land and culture, and he kept his promise. He saw the building of the schoolhouse he promised, and then went on to build many more. In the process, he did all of this without asking anything in return of the villagers except that they would educate their children. He didn't push them to switch religions, or to accept any "western" conventions. Through his efforts he has seen children who may have otherwise ended up in fundamentalist training camps go on to become educated people who return to help out their fellow countrymen. He is successfully doing what billions of dollars of war money is failing to do, and doing so on a shoestring budget. He is providing an amazing example of help and understanding. The world could use more Greg Mortensons. You really should read this book. Seriously.