Three Cups of Tea
This is written by poet, writer, and long-time Ojai resident, Fiona O'Connell:
One thing that we of the twenty-first century do not lack is words. In this up-to-the-nanosecond era we are deluged in them to the despairing point that we sometimes suspect we are drowning. Our main focus as we wade neck-deep through the rushing river of political locution and counter-locution is how best to get to the far shore (peace and quiet) in one healthy piece.
But in this same century there is another thing we have and there are no words for it. Ridiculous? No, not at all. Every once in a blessed while in the middle of the excess of verbosity a lifeline is tossed, whereupon we lunge for it, grab it, and find ourselves on the far shore (peace and quiet) where the sun of the good, the true and the beautiful is shining. A lifesaving book is securely tied to the lifeline; it is a copy of Three Cups of Tea. Hmmm we murmur inaudibly, “Two’s always been my limit. What might three be about?”
Well, clutching the lifeline, you untie the book, open it, read the first page, then the following one, and by then this reviewer’s tale is told. You will have read Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin’s amazing book, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World…One Child at a Time” before I’ve even begun to tell you that you really ought to read it, that it will be good for your body, mind, emotions, soul, and spirit.
I quote from Tom Brokaw, “Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time…(and) proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination really can change the world.” (Tom Brokaw made the first $100 donation to Mortenson’s effort in 1993.)
The book has been a New York Times bestseller since its January 2007 paperback release, 92 weeks as of Mid-November 9008. More than two million paperback copies have been sold in the U.S. and the book is in the process of being published in 26 other countries. The U.S. Pentagon bought several thousand copies of the book and made it mandatory reading in counterintelligence training and for U.S. Special Forces about to be deployed in Afghanistan.
You are curious, and ask, “What enbooked words in this jaded and sadly conflicted day and age could possibly incite such a furor here, there, and up as high as the so-called top brass?" I answer. They are words describing the true story of Greg Mortenson, a big man, six foot four, born in Tanzania to Lutheran minister parents, who tried climbing K2 (one of the highest and most difficult of mountain peaks to climb in the entire world)…. and stumbled, lost and delirious into the remote Himalayan village of Korphe. The villagers saved his life, and he vowed to return and build them a school. Three Cups of Tea is the close-to-unbelievable story of his kept promise, and of how that one kept promise has led to the construction at the present moment of about 78 schools, educating more than 28,000 students, including 14,000 girls. As Greg says, “It goes to the African proverb I learned as a child on the slopes of Kilimanjaro where I grew up for 14 years: If you educate a boy, you educate an individual. But if you educate a girl, you educate a community.”
The Central Asia Institute, a non-profit organization, which now oversees this mushrooming endeavor, can be contacted at P.O.Box 7209, Bozeman, MT 59771. Tel.406-585-7841 or www.ikat.org
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Comments (2)
I'm delighted to see the writings of Fiona O'Connell, who I have had the pleasure of knowing for many years, here on the Ojai Post!
PS
Fiona has no idea how much she has inspired me over the years. I look forward to reading this at leisure a little later today..
Comment #1 Posted by: Suza | September 26, 2009 09:34 AM
I did not realize that the U.S. Pentagon bought several thousand copies of the book and made it mandatory reading in counterintelligence training and for U.S. Special Forces about to be deployed in Afghanistan. It is interesting to know this after reading about how Mortenson did not accept the military's donation for the building of his schools.
Comment #2 Posted by: Anonymous | October 26, 2009 08:23 PM