Dear SuperForesters, prepare yourselves a cup of tea … or perhaps three. SuperForester Sheri has compiled a truly inspiring post about a man determined to keep his word.
To say that a single person can change the world isn’t an overstatement. With the right combination of character and determination, anyone really can change the world. Greg Mortenson (pictured below) didn’t set out to be a hero, he didn’t even set out to “make a difference” – he just set out to fulfill a promise that would have been so easy leave behind.
In 1993, Mortenson, began the journey to conquer the world’s second highest mountain in honor of his younger sister who died after a life-long struggle with severe epilepsy the previous year. After more than 70 days on the mountain of K2, Mortenson and three other climbers completed a life-saving rescue of a fifth climber that took more than 75 hours. The time and energy invested in the rescue prevented him from reaching the summit.
In the hills of northern Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya, on his way down from the harrowing and unsuccessful attempt to ascend K2, Mortenson conceded – exhausted and dehydrated. Guided by a local Balti porter to the nearest city, they took a wrong turn along the way and ended up in Korphe, a remote village, where Mortenson was nursed back to health by the villagers. While recovering, he noticed the children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand; they had nowhere to learn. To pay the community back for their compassion, Mortenson promised to return and build a school for the impoverished village.
From that impetuous promise grew one of the most awe-inspiring humanitarian campaigns of the time—a one-man mission to counter extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.
In spite of his failed expedition, Mortenson went on to conquer even greater heights. In the post-9/11 days when the entire planet seemed drenched in hatred and fear and America was deep in the throes of Islamophobia, he began his mission to build schools in the wildest and most neglected areas of Pakistan and later Afghanistan.
Despite the many obstacles in his way, he raised the money and returned to Pakistan, taking two more years, more money and many road-blocks, to build that first school. In addition to logistical nightmares, Mortenson survived an eight-day kidnapping in Waziristan, endured a firefight between Afghani opium warlords, overcame two religious rulings by angry Islamic scholars for educating girls, and received hate mail and threats from fellow Americans for helping to educate Muslims.
Mortenson stands on the belief “that education and literacy for girls globally is the most important investment all communities can make to create stability, bring socio-economic reform, decrease infant mortality, decrease the population explosion, and improve health, hygiene, and sanitation standards globally”. He believes that “fighting terrorism” perpetuates a cycle of violence and that there needs to be a global priority to “promote peace” through education and literacy, with an emphasis on girls’ education.
Haji Ali (Korphe’s village leader) explained: “If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways. The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die. Doctor Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea …”
That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life. We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly … Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects.”
If you’re interested to learn more, Greg’s written a book called Three Cups of Tea.
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