Three Cups of Tea is the true story of Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber who turned his failed attempt at summiting K2 into a life’s mission to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Wandering off a trail, Mortenson found himself in the village of Korphe, where he was drawn to their kindness and moved by their poverty. “… Haji Ali led Mortenson up a steep path to a vast open ledge eight hundred feet above the Braldu. The view was exquisite, with the ice giants of the upper Baltoro razored into the blue far above Korphe’s gray rock walls. But Mortenson wasn’t admiring the scenery. He was appalled to see eighty-two children, seventy-eight boys, and the four girls who had the pluck to join them, kneeling in the frosty ground, in the open. Haji Ali, avoiding Mortenson’s eyes, said that the village had no school, and the Pakistani government didn’t provide a teacher.”
Wanting to repay the members of the village for their kindness, Mortenson returned to the states to raise money to build a school in Korphe. Success was slow in coming but the opening of the Korphe school also marked the beginning of a life’s mission. Armed with the belief that educating girls was the key to peace in the region, Mortenson continued building schools across Pakistan and crossed the border into Afghanistan.
This story is challenging and inspirational. A must read.