A few weeks ago I had to take a day-long road trip alone. I’ve learned that time goes by faster if I listen to a book on cd, so I bought Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time. It is the story of Greg Mortenson and his work in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
I keep thinking about this story as we see Iraq deteriorate and none of the “talking class” propose anything that sounds remotely constructive. Call me simple-minded and naive, but I long for a conversation in this country about how we can begin to build-up rather than destruct as a way to reach our goals. I think Greg Mortenson has the right idea, so I’ll tell you a little about his story below the fold.
Greg was a nurse by profession and a mountain-climber by passion. He attempted to climb K2, but was unsuccessful. After several mishaps, he found himself alone on his descent and almost died. He was taken in by the people of Korphe, a small village in the Pakistani mountains, and nursed to health. Greg promised to repay the people of Korphe by coming back to build them a school. When he returned to the US, he sold all of his possessions and dedicated himself to raising the small amount of money he needed to build the school. Within a couple of years it was done.
The process eventually led Greg to start the Central Asia Institute, which has gone on to build over 55 schools and several women’s vocational centers and water projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His passion now is all about spreading education, especially for girls, as a way to build up the people of the region and combat terrorism. In the course of this work, he has been kidnapped by mullahs, held and questioned by the CIA, and had fatwas issued against him. But the goodwill of the people he has worked with has always been there to protect him.
One of the things Mortenson laments is that less that 1/3 of the money the US promised to Afghanistan for re-building has been spent there. I just can’t imagine the mind that fails to grasp why our efforts in that country have been such a complete failure.
Here’s a little excerpt from an article about Mortenson and his work from the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
The title of the book, “Three Cups of Tea,” refers to the way business is done in the tribal areas where the Taliban has sought refuge. The first cup of tea is to get acquainted, the second to make friends, and the third is to do business — over months or years.
It’s a contrast to the fast-paced American style of business through teleconferencing, e-mails and instant messaging.
As America struggles against terrorism, he said, it fails to understand the “Three Cups of Tea” style of negotiating, and the power of tribalism.
He scoffs at efforts to generate democracy overnight.
“We’re trying to plug in democracy,” Mortenson said. “You can’t do that. You can’t just tell people to vote. You have to put in education, and land ownership.”
“It takes two generations,” Mortenson said — and a whole lot of tea.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to propose a “Department of Tea Drinking” that will be devoted to talking, listening, building up and problem-solving. I know the reaction this would get from the DC crowd – “girly man” accusations would abound. But I continue to hope for the day we’ll be ready to try something that promotes life rather than death. And it might be that the “girly-types” have the answers we’ve all been waiting for!!
Not many hearts and minds are won at the point of a gun. You’d think we would know that by now. Perhaps our frontier, individualistic culture, where so many were torn from their extended families, has left us with a “quick to be acquainted” way of looking at life. But with more collectivist cultures, trust is built slowly and with great care – not that persons like Greg Mortenson haven’t made wonderful strides within their own lifetimes.
We’ll not see many such changes within a political cycle, however, or even back to back presidential terms. And certainly not within quarterly corporate profit/loss reports.
Mortenson is doing a great thing, may his tribe increase.
There were two countiries in 1973.
One was useless. No wealth. Every woman standing had been raped. Conservative. No friends. A corrupt government. A total wasteland. It was so useless and unimportant that it turned over to the wimps and non-governmental organizations. Planned Parenthood. Drs without Borders. The Peace Corps, of all the hippy things.
The other really important company was at a strategic crossroads. All the big man came and studied it. It was worth INVESTMENT. Important military money was spent. Local government was built up. The big brainy men went there, not the girlies and girlie-men.
Now, Bangladesh, the waste case has a democratic government, literate women, decreasing family sizes.
And Afghanistan has all the result of those men in ties comparing missile size. And they call the military men “realists” and the Peace Corp “dreamers”.
I’ll just write my mental response to this – BINGO
Its interesting your mentioning Bangladesh. I just saw a PBS show about the whole “micro-credit” phenomena for which the recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus was recognized. In the show they talked about how much more successful these programs had been when lending to women.
And Greg Mortenson speaks very eloquently about the need to educate all children, but the cultural transformation that happens particularly when you educate girls.
All of this was in my mind when I wrote this diary, but couldn’t pull it all together coherently. It does seem that we are seeing signs that there is something quite powerful that happens when girls/women are educated/empowered.
I don’t claim to be objective about this – being female and all – but it does take the “girly thing” to a whole other level.
God I hate the phrase “girly-man.” (I know why it was used here so I’m not carping at you.)
What Mortenson has done takes more courage than anything the stupid chicken-hawks and blow-hard pundits have ever done.
We honor people who put their lives on the line for others — even if it means ending a few other lives. Guns, bombs, severed limbs. Wow look how strong and important we are. And if we aren’t achieving our goals it doesn’t matter, because we are proving how strong and important we are.
It seems to me that it takes a different but equal courage to rope in one’s ego and to listen enough to develop trust and empathy with people you don’t know — especially if you have already decided you don’t like them.
External force can control peoples bodies for a time but it can’t control their minds, their souls. In time the spirit will rebel and we start the whole damn cycle again.
Thanks for bringing this book to our attention. It sounds well worth reading. (And if you decide to order it, be sure to support the BT sponsors.)
Yea, that phrase “girly-man” really gets to me too Kahli. But what bugs me is that it is used as an insult when, as you said, men like Greg (a hunk of a girly-man) are the real heros.