Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
We've all heard that one person can make a big difference. Most of us dismiss this as childhood claptrap that we're told so that we eat our peas and broccoli. Greg Mortenson has proven that this is absolutely true - and not just for the rich and famous.Greg was a man who lived on the fringe of what most of us would call a "normal life". He slept in his car. He lived on coffee and donuts. He took a third shift job at a local hospital so that he could spend days climbing mountains and roaming the wilderness. He scrounged and saved so that he could have one splurge on his dream, climbing K-2. He was doing it for himself, and for his dead sister. With all his training and experience, the mountain was too tough. He failed on his attempt and, near death, was rescued in a tiny village on the slopes.
For most books, this would be the entire story - one man's battle against the mountain, and how a small group of friendly locals nursed him to get back to "civilization". However with Tree Cups of Tea, this is only the beginning of the story. For when he realized just how much the children of this village wanted an education - and how they had no school to learn in - he vowed to get them that school.
Again, this was not a wealthy millionaire offering to toss of a check from his pocket change. This was a vow from a man who barely ate enough food every day to survive. Still, he felt committed to his purpose. His dedicated all of his free time and energy to letter writing and fundraising efforts. He got nowhere. With all the other causes around the world - whales, tigers, kittens, puppies - who would donate money to one small village school in the mountains of the middle east?
Through sheer stubbornness of will, Greg finally finds someone to get him the money. He barely has enough for the flight over, and rations his food money with exact precision. He gets the worst hotel room there is and scrimps over every penny. Again, he does everything in his power to make this work. But first one group tries to take his money, then another, and then another. He is wheeled and dealed. He finally gets to the town in question with the supplies - and they want a bridge too!
There is of course a happy ending to the story. The school is built, and then Greg embarks on a mission to build many more. He is now a world wide phenomenon, building schools, raising money, showing people the value of education. He has proven that educating a population is a sure way to help them prize peace over war. This tale is ongoing.
The book definitely rates 5/5 for its sheer strength of will. It proves - easily - that any person can achieve great things if they are willing to stick with it. Greg didn't have it easy by any stretch of the imagination. At many points along the road he could have given up and none would have blamed him. It is the fact that he kept going - that he kept putting one foot in front of the other - that made this success possible.
But that being said, I do want to comment on a few things. First, the writing of the book is a bit uneven. There were sections that just felt awkward, that I had to push myself to read through. There were sections that went a bit too heavy on the drama side. Other sections became very dry textbook renditions of long histories. Maybe it would have been better with a different writer - or maybe with a better editor. It's important to note that Greg himself did NOT write the book - he hired someone to do it for him.
Next, I was struck both by this book and by reading "Eat, Pray, Love" that both had a very similar theme going. In both cases someone goes through a lot of effort - scrounging, begging, pleading - to gather up money for a good cause, to help a poor person who needs it. In both cases, that person is IMMEDIATELY taken advantage of and the recipients start saying "this isn't enough - give me more". In both cases the book tries to justify it. The books say in essence "well, what can you expect, the recipients are poor. They figure they might as well lie, cheat and steal to get as much more money as they possibly can."
This bothers me just so much. It is stating right out that it is fine to lie and steal if you're poor. These people weren't stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving children. Instead, they were lying and deceiving a "friend" just for a nice-to-have thing. It wasn't just a one time thing. It was incessant, a recurring theme. One "friend" who was supposed to store the supplies took off with half of them. The next "friend" tried to very heavy handedly pressure Greg into building the school elsewhere. By the time the actual village got the supplies and said "What do you mean we only get a school? We want a bridge too, you have failed," I was rather upset with the whole situation. In a way it really ruined the entire experience for me. That village had each other. They had homes, and food, and love. Greg was surviving on the very edge with NONE of that - had stretched himself to his very limits - and still they wanted more. It felt very wrong.
I don't think it's right to say "He lives in the US so he should be noble and self sacrificing to the ultimate degree. This other person lives in (insert random poor village name here) so they should lie, cheat, steal and do whatever they want to achieve their goals." That seems entirely wrong to me.
I'm curious if nobody else got this sense from these books. It makes me want to be even more careful about the many charities I support, that I am not being taken advantage of. I work very hard for my money, and want it to go to good causes, not to greedy ones.
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