Three Cups of Tea

Title: Three Cups of Tea
Author: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
ISBN: 0670034827


Plot Summary: Greg Mortenson, a young American mountain climber, becomes stranded in a remote Pakistani village while attempting to climb K2. After the villagers nurse him back to health, he comes to see how the village childrens' lack of education has negatively impacted their community. Promising to come back and help them build and finance a school, he sells his possessions back in the United States and begins the long, arduous process of securing funding, materials, construction, teachers, and materials for the school. This quest eventually turns into an organization devoted to building non-denominational schools for boys and girls alike across areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan that are most subject to targeting by terrorist organizations looking for recruits. Although outnumbered and outfinanced by the Taliban and Al Quaeda, Mortensen's Central Asia Institute begins to bring about positive change in these remote, unstable areas.

Critical Evaluation: It is to this book's credit that Greg Mortenson, although a clear force for good throughout the narrative, is not presented as being perfect by any means. Unreliable, often unemployed, and frequently out of touch with the real world, his lack of understanding of practical considerations is not always a hindrance in his greater goals, but can and often does hurt his interpersonal relationships. The Central Asia Institute, for its part, is able to bring about change in the region, but whether or not it will be a lasting one is in question, especially given recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Reader's Annotation: When a young American hiker gets stranded in a remote village in Pakistan, he promises the villagers that he will build them a school in gratitude for their having nursed him back to health. His quest to do so will eventually span many villages and multiple countries, as he braves poverty, dangerous political and geographic conditions, and his own shortcomings to bring a decent education to children who need it most.

About the Authors: Greg Mortenson, the son of Christian missionaries, was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1957, and grew up in northern Tanzania, where his father founded a teaching hospital. He served as an Army Medic for two years, then earned degrees in nursing and chemistry from the University of South Dakota. After the death of his younger sister, he went to climb K2 in honor of her memory; while there, he became stranded in a village in the Karkoram mountain range. The people he encountered there became the inspiration for Three Cups of Tea and the impetus for his founding of the Central Asia Institute, a non-profit dedicated to building non-denominational, co-educational elementary schools in remote villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He and his wife live in Bozeman, Montana with their two children. Mortenson co-wrote Three Cups of Tea with David Oliver Relin, a journalist and former Iowa Writer's Workshop fellow, who currently lives in Portland, Oregon and contributes regularly to Parade and Skiing Magazine.

Genre: Non-fiction

Curriculum Ties: World Religions, Current Affairs, Women's Studies, Political Science

Booktalking Ideas:

Hook: Greg gets fitted for a shalwar kamiz.
Approach: Scene-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Greg wants to wear the traditional Pakistani dress, but has his own, distinctly American ideas about which fabric should be used. The tailor wants him to pick a nicer color, but Greg wants a brown one that won't show stains; "practical" American prefers function over form. When Greg asks if he looks Pakistani enough, he is told "maybe Bosnian," reflected by Pakistanis later on, who form a crowd around him and debate whether he is Bosnian, Chechen, or some other White Muslim nationality. Doesn't look like "one of them" ethnically, but his efforts to understand their culture and religion do not go unappreciated.

Hook: The importance of educating women and girls.
Approach: Plot-based
Ideas for Booktalk: Girls are traditionally shortchanged in terms of education, often only taught enough that they can read the Quran. Madrassahs mainly recruit boys and young men to become their future martyrs. Although it is important for girls to have a religious education, Mortenson's efforts are designed to teach them other skills that will improve their lot in life, ensuring that they will not have to depend on a man for their livelihood. Give examples of the various girls in the book who get educated, especially the headman's daughter who is the first woman in her village to receive secondary, and then University, education.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Adult

Challenge Issues: Violence, terrorism, religious viewpoint.
Mortenson is the son of Christian missionaries, but does not prosletize to the villagers he meets. Neither does he convert to Islam, but instead makes an effort to understand and appreciate their religion, including asking one man to show him how to pray. This book also deals with the violence and terrorism that result from a perversion of Islam, but the book makes the point that this is in fact a perversion of the original faith, as evidenced by its depiction of clerics who are pro-education and anti-terrorism. This book's value, for readers of any age, lies in its ability to do exactly what Greg Mortenson set out to achieve: that is, to foster understanding, tolerance, peace, and education.

Why I Chose This Book: I was moved and inspired by this book's message of peace, tolerance and education, and impressed by the protagonist/author's ability to bring about positive change on a multi-national scale with limited funds by force of sheer determination. I would recommend this book to anyone searching for hope, inspiration, and what may be the ultimate solution to peace in the Middle East and Central Asia.