“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” –Anne Frank
This time of year inspires introspection for me. More so than usual, I should admit, since I’m an introspective guy by nature, almost to a fault. In many ways I’m not unlike Hamlet — minus the iambic pentameter and motherlust. Maybe it’s a time of reflection for you too, what with the new year turning and all. That’s part of it for me, then on the heels of that is my birthday on January 17. So right now there’s a lot of self-evaluating, goal making, list writing, and good intention road paving. Then somewhere in mid-February all of this winds up taking a backseat to simply living. If there’s anything my 43 years have taught me, it’s that this living thing is a full-time commitment.
It’s fortuitous then that I picked this time to read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book tells the story of how Greg went from being a young guy adrift to a man with a vital mission. My prevailing thoughts while reading this book were I’m so lazy and I’ve accomplished nothing, followed by the happy thought that if Greg could rise above the odds he faced in changing the world, then I can too.
Still reeling from the death of his sister, Greg attempted to climb the famed K2 in her honor. Though he came close, he failed and almost lost his life. After being rescued by a guide, Greg ended up getting separated from him on the way back down the mountain, and drifted into the village of Korphe. The people of the village nursed Greg back to health and he was struck by their kindness, so much so that he vowed to return to the village to build a school.
As you can imagine, the people of Korphe had been promised things before. Foreign mountaineers would stumble upon the village, fall in love with the simple life of these goodhearted people, make promises to the villagers, then never return. This proved not to be the case with Greg Mortenson. He was willing to do whatever he needed to do — including living in his car — to honor his promise.
Three Cups of Tea is required reading for anyone who has ever looked at a situation and said, “Someone should do something about that,” but assumed they could never be that somebody. From fundraising to planning to purchasing materials to staffing, Greg had to learn how to do all of it the hard way. Once he delivered on his promise to provide the children of Korphe with a school, he began to realize the scope of Pakistan’s educational needs and decided to keep building. Today the Central Asia Institute (CAI), founded by Greg with the help of his first donor Jean Hoerni, has built 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
You would think doing something as noble as building a school would be greeted with warm hugs, but that is not always the case for Greg’s work. While some of the ill will he faces is an understandable distrust of Americans, the main reason is that the schools educate girls. This is frowned upon for religious reasons, although you get the feeling for someone of the mafia-like men Greg encounters it’s simply an excuse to turn a buck.
Perhaps the most thought provoking and eye-opening part of the book, for me, comes when Greg happens to be doing work in Afghanistan when 9/11 occurs. Getting the chance to see that tragedy from another angle makes you realize how far the impact of those two towers reverberated. To learn how people in Pakistan and Afghanistan were helplessly aware of how the act of this one group would impact their lives is heartbreaking. In the days following 9/11, Greg was witness to a media firestorm filled with ill-informed “journalists” who sensationalized the situation both through their ignorance and hunger for ratings. One hotel becomes the headquarters for the media circus, each day members of the Taliban come in to sit and watch over tea; not a single member of the media bothered to speak with them, but Greg did. One of the things he learned was that one of the leaders was trying to contact President Bush before things escalated to war, but W never bothered to return the calls.
Which brings me to what I think is Greg’s most important contribution to peace, and it is really a byproduct of what he does. Greg is an American helping out people in a foreign country. The mission of building schools has taken on a deeper meaning because Greg has realized that education is the best solution to the ignorance that leads to violence and war. Continuing to do this work in countries where he could see “absolute hate for us in people’s eyes” sends a message to their people that in the end we’re all global citizens.
That concept is one of the reasons I started this blog. There are a lot of things you could write about on the website for a queer publication, but I wanted to write about ways to improve the planet, and step up to the plate and participate as well. I feel strongly that public service is an important key to the gay civil rights movement; through it we: a) give people a chance to interact with us and learn more about people with our proclivities, b) demonstrate that we are part of our world’s population and care what happens to it. Greg Mortenson is obviously an extraordinary person, and I’m not suggesting you run out and try to build a school. There are so many ways you can help. Even a small contribution can have a huge impact. And that impact can have many layers.
In the end of the book, the authors give suggestions on how you can help with Greg’s work. To buy a copy of the book, visit ThreeCupsofTea.com, by buy it there 7% of your purchase goes to a girls’ education scholarship in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Keeping with the theme of Greg’s work, the book is available in both a young adult and children’s version. This month Greg released a follow-up book called Stones into Schools which is on my “must read” list.
The Central Asia Institute has set up an awesome fundraiser for American school kids called Pennies for Peace in which the kids collect pennies and learn how their efforts can have an impact on global peace. The CAI site is packed with great information including a history, financials, fundraising and volunteer opportunities. You can also follow Greg via Twitter.
Want to help save the world? Join or donate to the Scottie Saves the World Team for Heifer International. Do what you can. The world needs us.
