I'm really, really glad I read this book. And, of course, now I'm going to have to go back and read Three Cups of Tea. I don't consider myself an overly emotional person but this book brought me to tears more times than I can count. Words like hardship and struggle don't come close to describing the way people in the remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan live. Many villages are up in the mountains so high that they are cut off from the rest of the world for six months out of the year. Six whole months. The governments are ineffective, the countries are war-torn, the people have little hope. It is too much to fathom, the problems seem insurmountable.
Then along comes this guy with an idea to start educating girls. So he starts building schools. The hook, he's working in the most isolated places he can find to help those with the most desperate need. With a ragtag group of employees, they manage to do the impossible and as word starts to spread of their successes, the requests come pouring in. Sixteen years later there are more than 130 schools.
One of my favorite moments is when Mortenson is trying to politely refuse a request from about twenty women in Ishkoshem, who are wanting a vocational center. Just as he's explaining they don't have the money for such a venture he receives a call from his wife. By the end of that conversation he turns to the women and says, "American wife-boss has announced that we must somehow find the funds for your vocational center...if I refuse this project, all the women in my village will be very angry with me--so we will request extra money from our board of directors."
A week after a school opened in an active Taliban combat zone in Afghanistan, the Taliban threatened action if they were to proceed. An ominous "night letter" was nailed to the school door with a warning that the school would be burned to the ground and the families of the daughters that attended would be "targeted for reprisal." The solution was pure genius. The elders appointed one of the most respected religious leaders in the community to be the headmaster of the school. This man met with the local Taliban fighters and explained that if they dared to harm anyone affiliated with the school, it would be an affront to Islam. And it worked. The night letter was mysteriously removed and no harm came to anyone who attended or worked for that school. Amazing.
Many thanks to Penny for recommending the book. 20 down, 6 to go.
6 comments:
So.... are you going to change your goal?
I am so glad you read the book-and you wrote a great review! I cried reading the last chapter because he is such a humble person who thinks more of others than of himself. I have heard him speak twice now and was mesmerized by his talk both times. He is as close as they come to being a saint. My friend and I want to nominate him for a Nobel Prize.
okay, I almost always shy away from overly-hyped books (see "Eat, Pray, Love,") but you've sold me. I'll read it--thanks for sharing! I don't mean to say this book is overly-hyped. you know what I mean.
Dr. A,
I probably should although right now I'm very happy to be so close to the goal.
Penny,
It was a great read. It's astonishing what some people can accomplish when they come together and work towards a common goal.
Zozo,
You'll have to let me know what you think. Eat, Pray, Love was okay but I don't plan on reading her latest. (I will, however, probably catch the movie with Julia Roberts. Maybe it'll be more interesting and less self-involved than the book. :)
oh, I'll definitely see the stupid movie!
Zozo,
If you need someone to go with, you know who to call.
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