Mortenson’s journey and fascinating story is chronicled in the book he co-wrote with David Oliver Relin Three Cups of Tea. A sharp contrast to the American government’s involvement in the region, Mortenson’s struggle to build co-ed schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan illustrates that the developed world’s favored method of simply throwing money at problem areas needs to change. Though effective use of cash and resources is necessary, the most important component is human interaction, communication, and understanding.
Mortenson has currently founded 74 schools, and every single one goes through a complex process of evaluation and planning that takes years to complete. Though 2-4 years of evaluation to build a small school out of basic construction materials seems like a time-consuming process, it takes into account the indigenous mindset behind construction and development, and the geo-political intricacies of building a school in a remote region where local militants might not welcome the idea. When Mortenson tries to rush the construction of his first school, the elder of the small village of Korphe, Haji Ali, tells him to stop it because he is driving everyone crazy. ‘We have lived for years without a school, and we can wait a little longer. Give it time’, he says. When building another school, a local cleric hires thugs to destroy it. Mortenson discovers that only with patience and polite but firm persistence will anything be accomplished.
So slowly and steadily, Mortenson keeps going. He spends days on end participating in jirgas (local community meetings) and drinking endless cups of tea with squabbling elders. He gets taken prisoner by radical Islamic militants. Most importantly, he shows that basic education for both boys and girls is a universal right. Local elders, Iranian fundamentalist clerics, and even an Afghan warlord all agree with this principle. Those who oppose him in his quest are those who support the decrepit status quo: jihadist Taliban fighters, corrupt clerics who do not want to lose personal power, and everyone who opposes creating opportunities for Pakistan’s and Afghanistan’s children.
Though with the current Taliban insurgency military struggle and civil security are the highest priority, the Obama administration would do well to follow Greg Mortenson’s example to ensure that education and progress establish themselves over the poverty and neglect that formed during the last eight years as war raged on.
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