Three Cups of Tea...

...can change the way you see things with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Greg Mortenson wrote this book with David Oliver Relin - mainly because Mortenson is publicity-shy and doesn't like to talk about himself. Visit www.ikat.org - the Central Asia Institute's website. You need to read this book. He failed to climb K2, but he succeeded beyond anyone's imagination in his ability to educate children in the poorest regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan - yep, right in Taliban-Land. We don't realize how much we take an education for granted. And we don't know how much one person can do (either globally or locally) until we see someone doing it. Mortenson started his school-building initiative on his part-time wages as an ER nurse, and lived on a literal shoestring till he was funded by another climber who was impressed by what he saw Mortenson doing. Educating children. Think about that. Babies are not born KNOWING how to hate or fear. They are TAUGHT that. If you educate the girls, which was forbidden by the Taliban, though the Koran said that women need to be educated - if you educate the girls, the villages will prosper and the next generation will know that peace can only be achieved by educating yourself and your children. Peace can't be achieved at gunpoint. It takes $1 to educate a girl and ONE PENNY to buy a pencil. One penny. That copper coin we're thinking of getting rid of because it's 'bothersome' and 'useless.' Get your schools involved. Get your church involved. Buy the book. Read it. Pass it on. Or donate it to your library, since there are waiting lists to read this. And get yourself involved. Donate to the Central Asia Institute or start a community drive to raise funds. Nobody wants war forever, except the corporations who benefit from the dollars pouring into their coffers. We can teach peace. One school at a time. This book - this man - has proved that.