Last night I was privileged, along with over 2000 other people, to hear Greg Mortenson speak.
His story is amazing. He was a mountaineer who, back in 1993, climbed K2 only to fail in reaching the top. He got separated from his guide on his way back down and stumbled upon a small, impoverished Pakistan village. The people were kind to him and took him in. The next day, when he saw a group of children sitting in a circle on the ground, stratching their multiplication tables in the dirt with sticks, he said, "I felt like my heart was being torn out. There was a fierceness in their desire to learn, despite how mightily everything was stacked against them...I knew I had to do something."
So he promised to come back and build them a school. And there began the rest of his life's mission, building now, as of 2008, over 78 schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, providing education to over 28,000 children, including 18,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.
All of these schools have been built in the heart of the Taliban and Islamic Extremism.
He has been kidnapped, caught in a firefight between fueding Afghan warlords, some schools have been bombed by the Taliban. He has recieved much hate mail and even 8 death threats from fellow Americans after 9-11 for helping to educate Muslim children.
But yet, he is driven, and his passion is strong. He says, "The long term solution to terrorism is education. Fight not with bombs, but books. The terrorists worst fear is not the bullet, but the pen."
"Mortenson advocates girls’ education as the top priority to promote economic development, peace and prosperity, and says, 'you can drop bombs, hand out condoms, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change'."
This man and his mission are completely inspiring. His story is told in the book "Three Cups of Tea." I read it earlier this year and
highly recommend it to everyone. It's a fairly short and easy read, and well worth your time. It has been on the #1 New York Best Seller list for 95 weeks! And he said last night he is writing a 2nd book telling of the last 5 years, starting where "Three Cups of Tea" left off.
Check out
this sight to read more about Greg Mortenson, his humanitarian campaign, the Central Asia Institute (CAI) that he started, the 'Pennies For Peace' program, a long list of awards, see pictures, etc.
Dr. Greg signing books after speaking last night (I felt like a groupie taking this picture):
A few notes from last night:
-"The real enemy is ignorance - ignorance breeds hatred." -GM
-"I believe in the importance of failure and how it can contribute to success."-GM
-When it is dark you can see the stars. -Persian Proverb
-"Educated women in Afghanistan refuse to let their sons join the Taliban."
-Since 2007, over 480 schools, mostly girl schools, have been bombed, destroyed, or shut down by the Taliban or other Jihad groups.
-People in Afghanistan are pleading for schools.
-Afghanistan needs training and support for
their troops to fight terrorism, not more U.S. troops fighting for them.
-Children go to Islam camps for help and food and end up joining them when there are no schools near them. Greg asked for U.S. Congress to build a school near the Islam camp for these children and they said, "No."
-Greg asks women in the villages where ever he goes, "What do you want?" They always say one of 2 things, or both: "I don't want my babies to die." "I want my children to go to school."
-"If the end of the world should come tomorrow, I'm still going to plant my seed today."-GM
-"Politics don't bring peace. People bring peace."-GM
-Someone from the audience asked Dr. Greg, "If you could give any advice to the President Elect, what would it be?" He responded, "Listen before he acts in Afghanistan. Talk to the leaders in Afghanistan. Have humility (that would be a tactic that would throw off everybody [he laughs]). Have respect and cultural sensitivity for them."
