Three Cups of Tea

Spoiler Alert

My mom recommended Three Cups of Tea that she read in one of her book groups.  It’s about a former mountaineer, Greg Mortenson, an American who builds schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The premise seems like a fairly straightforward story about goodwill, but it’s actually so much more than that.  The story has so many different facets: Mortenson’s life before and while he starts building schools, the people of Central Asia, their history, and how current events such as 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan fit in with the story.  Mortenson and journalist David Oliver Relin wrote Three Cups of Tea to tell the full story and further galvanize their mission.  It’s an adventure story, a thriller, an inspiring story, an intriguing biography, and a cultural history all in one book.

Three Cups of Tea is the story of Greg Mortenson whose background, childhood, and early life are all far from typical.  They make his current vocation seem less surprising, though that doesn’t make the story any less remarkable.  He’s definitely “just not one of us” and “his own species” as his mother-in-law describes.  Still, he faces his challenges as I believe just about anyone would, making mistakes along the way and learning from them.  What really sets him apart is his desire to do good, his willingness to get to know and understand the people he helps, and his commitment to keeping his promises no matter how long it takes or how much is required.  He initially struggles to raise funds for the first school but eventually finds enough donors.  As his efforts grow, his organization, the Central Asian Institute (CAI) has some financial problems but they also get some breaks.  Mortenson also has a chaotic personal life in the beginning.  But the real story is about how he gets the schools built, especially the first school, how he gets to know the people, and the cultural, political, financial, and even geographical obstacles he and the other CAI staff face.  Then there are the high points, the good fortuitous events, the understandings and promises met that make all the efforts worth it.

What Mortenson has accomplished and continues to accomplish is remarkable, but, as he acknowledges, he didn’t do it all alone.  Assistance has come from the CAI’s benefactors and, what I believe is more crucial, from the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan that directly and indirectly benefit from the help.  Mortenson learns that finding the right people, and building and committing to relations with them is just as important as raising funds, buying materials, and the construction work.  His friends in Pakistan and Afghanistan are numerous and all interesting.  The later nurmadhar or head man of the first village where they built a school, Korphe, serves as his mentor and gives him lessons that guide his efforts.  There’s Faisal Baig who serves as his bodyguard.  At least one of his friends is a former Taliban.  Mortenson works to learn their languages and cultures.  He adopts their style of dress and even learns to pray like a Muslim even though he isn’t one.

The stories of the people in rural Pakistan and, later in the book, Afghanistan, are arguably just as compelling as Mortenson’s story.  They live in very harsh, mountainous climates.  They’re poor but definitely not ignorant.  They have the kindest hospitality that motivates Mortenson to build his first school.  They know the mountains and how to survive in them better than anyone.  One of my favorite parts of the book is when Mortenson goes hunting for ibex with some villagers.  They make a distinction between those who live “upside” in the mountain villages and “downside” in the lower elevation cities such as Skardu.  They have a rich culture where religion and their labors on farms and the land are important.  Yet they also know that education is needed for their children, especially the girls.  As a horseman, a Kirghiz nomad from the Wakhan region in northeast Afghanistan says, “For me, hard life is no problem, but for children no good.”

The people of rural Pakistan and Afghanistan are actually comprised of many cultures.  The Balti live in the Baltistan region in northeastern Pakistan.  The Wazir live in Waziristan in western Pakistan.  In Afghanistan there are people in the southern plains and the mountainous north.  The different peoples speak different languages including Balti, Urdu, Pashto, and Dari, a form of Farsi.  Mortenson learns some of these languages and is helped by translators with others.  The people also teach him valuable lessons.  Haji Ali teachings him to build relations and a female principal in Kabul teaches that it’s more important for girls to be educated than to stop wearing burkhas.   Something all the people seem to have in common is that they all drink tea.  The three cups mentioned in the title have important cultural significance that embodies the central message of the book:  the first time you share a cup of tea you’re a stranger, the second time you’re a friend, and the third time you’re family.

Mortenson and the CAI’s work in Central Asia began in 1993.  Since then there have been many changes and major news events in that region.  There was the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, 9/11 and the anti-American sentiments, and the war in Afghanistan that goes on to this day.  The book offers a more honest perspective of what’s going on:  most of the people do not hate Americans.  The Fundamentalist Islam movement is supported more by rich Saudis.  The war in Afghanistan was necessary to remove the Taliban from power but helping the people rebuild is even more necessary to ensure peace.  The events of the past 10-15 years have underscored the importance of the CAI’s work.  Building schools doesn’t just help the people of rural central Asia.  It promotes peace.

One part of the book mentions Mortenson convinces a high-ranking officer in the U.S. Military that building schools will help national security.  The officer offers him 2.2 million dollars to build schools but Mortenson turns him down even when they say they could make it look like the money didn’t come from the military.  I’m not 100% sure why they turned them down.  Perhaps he was afraid that accepting it would make people question the CAI’s motives especially if they found the true source of the funding.

The book mentions a few things I know about before reading.  To better accomplish the goals of the CAI, Mortenson seeks to learn about similar projects in other countries.  He visits Cavite that’s an hour south of Manila in the Philippines where the Institute of Rural Reconstruction helps the rural poor set up tiny businesses such as bicycle taxis.  I’ve seen a film called Cavite, a thriller that takes place in that area made by Filipino-American filmmakers.  At the official inauguration of the school in the village of Kuardu, the supreme leader of Pakistan’s Shia gives a speech.  He begins by saying, “Bismillah ir-Rahman in-Rahim” that means “In the name of Allah Almighty, the Beneficent, the Merciful.”  The word Bismillah is also in the lyrics of the song “Bohemian Rapsody” by Queen, the part that goes “Bismillah no, we will not let you go. Let him go! Bismillah.”  It kind of makes sense that this word is in the song since Queen’s late lead singer who wrote the song, Freddy Mercury, is of Persian descent.  I wonder if Muslims find the song sacrilegious.  Three Cups of Tea also mentions Jon Krakauer hosting a fundraiser for Mortenson.  Both Mortenson and Krakauer have climbed mountains.  I read Krakauer’s books Into the Wild and Into Thin Air many years ago and I listened to the audio version of Into the Wild more recently.  Interesting that Krakauer didn’t help write Mortenson’s story.  But then again, Krakauer doesn’t usually write inspiring stories.

The story of Greg Mortenson and the people of rural Pakistan and Afghanistan is exciting, thrilling, informative, eye opening, and truly inspiring.  And the story continues.  You can get updates on the CAI’s progress on their website www.ikate.com.  There are also websites for Three Cups of Tea (www.threecupsoftea.com), Greg Mortenson (www.gregmortenson.com), and Pennies for Peace (www.penniesforpeace.org), a fundraiser for schoolchildren to donate pennies and change to build schools.  Many predict Mortenson will win the Nobel Peace Prize.  He has received offers to make a move of his story but he has turned them down, fearing they may offend or adversely affect the people he’s trying to help.  I’m not sure if a film could do his story justice.  But I’m glad Mortenson and the journalist Relin made the effect to tell his story to many through Three Cups of Tea.  With so many bad forces in the world I’m glad Mortenson, the CAI, and many people or rural Central Asia are doing some good.