Frasch Ideas—Examine, Inquire, Explore

Three Cups of Tea

Posted by Theresa on July 18th, 2006 filed in Book Review

One of my friends recently came back from an attempt to summit Mount Rainier. It was a joint project for him to reach for his goal of reaching the summit and raising funds for the American Lung Association through the project Climb for Clean Air.

It reminded me of the book I read on my vacation to Klamath Falls with “the girls” (my mom, my sister and my aunt): Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I don’t remember how I heard of this book, probably somebody’s blog, but I wanted to read it because of his personal experiences with Pakistani and Afghanistan people.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . . . One School at a Time

Greg Mortenson touched a nation by touching people. And he did it by ~~providing education~~ building schools for the children. Until Greg came the only “schools” these children had were a plot of dirt and sticks to scratch it with.

I crossed out providing education above because the villagers provided the education, Greg gave them the tools.

One thing I really like about Greg’s foundation (Central Asia Institute) is that they don’t force “our” education on the citizens. There was no religious motive or agenda. There was only a desire to help a village that helped him when he was sick and lost. And from there it took off, one school at a time.

The title of the book comes from a conversation with the elder of the community where he built his first school (after he raised the money, bought the supplies, transported them, and then found out that first he would have to build a bridge to get the materials across). Haji Ali told him to share three cups of tea, to slow down, and make building relationships as important as building projects. He said that he had more to learn from the people he was going to work with than he could ever hope to teach them.

One of the things I came away with was the amazing patience of the people. To Greg it was heartbreaking to have to put off building the school in order to build the bridge. But the villagers were used to waiting, waiting, waiting for everything that came to them. To them it was just part of the process.

The book is filled with adventure and real-life stories that will give you pause and appreciation for a cause. Take some time out of your business and enjoy Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I left the book with my mom, I hope she’s read it. Pass it on when you are done Mom.

Technorati : books, failure, goals
Del.icio.us : books, failure, goals
Ice Rocket : books, failure, goals

2 Responses to “Three Cups of Tea”

Tina helen Says:
August 6th, 2007 at 3:06 am
He had more to learn from the people he was going to work with than he could ever hope to teach them.
Central Asia Institute » Book Review: Three Cups of Tea Says:
March 13th, 2008 at 9:12 am
[…] One of my friends recently came back from an attempt to summit Mount Rainier. It was a joint project for him to reach for his goal of reaching the summit and raising funds for the American Lung Association through the project Climb for Clean Air. It reminded me of the book I read on my vacation to Klamath Falls with “the girls” (my mom, my sister and my aunt): Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I don’t remember how I heard of this book, probably somebody’s blog, but I wanted to read it because of his personal experiences with Pakistani and Afghanistan people. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism . . . One School at a Time Greg Mortenson touched a nation by touching people. And he did it by building schools for the children. Until Greg came the only “schools” these children had were a plot of dirt and sticks to scratch it with. I crossed out providing education above because the villagers provided the education, Greg gave them the tools. One thing I really like about Greg’s foundation (Central Asia Institute) is that they don’t force “our” education on the citizens. There was no religious motive or agenda. There was only a desire to help a village that helped him when he was sick and lost. And from there it took off, one school at a time. The title of the book comes from a conversation with the elder of the community where he built his first school (after he raised the money, bought the supplies, transported them, and then found out that first he would have to build a bridge to get the materials across). Haji Ali told him to share three cups of tea, to slow down, and make building relationships as important as building projects. He said that he had more to learn from the people he was going to work with than he could ever hope to teach them. One of the things I came away with was the amazing patience of the people. To Greg it was heartbreaking to have to put off building the school in order to build the bridge. But the villagers were used to waiting, waiting, waiting for everything that came to them. To them it was just part of the process. The book is filled with adventure and real-life stories that will give you an appreciation for a cause. Take some time out of your business and enjoy Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I left the book with my mom, I hope she’s read it. Pass it on when you are done Mom. http://theresafrasch.com/archives/156 (c) 2006 Theresa Frasch. All Rights Reserved. […]