Non-Fiction

I just finished Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to fight Terrorism and Build Nations... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It seems a logical pick for today's topic of a non-fiction book.

It was a great read, although it took me quite a while to get through it. It is heavy on Pakastani and Afganistani geography, customs, etc., which sometimes slowed down the pace of reading. But at it's core, it's a book about one man who is changing the world by devoting himself to educating women in one of the wildest parts of the world. I have been pondering a lot this summer how one person can really make a difference and this book really helped provoke a lot of interesting introspection.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"After attending a conference of development experts in Bangladesh, Mortenson decided CAI schools should educate students only up to the fifth grade and focus on increasing the enrollment of girls. 'Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the village and go search for work in the cities,' explained Mortenson. 'But the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they've learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls."

p.209 (emphasis added)

"In times of war, you often hear our leaders -- Christian, Jewish and Muslim-- saying, 'God is on our side.' But it isn't true. In war, God is on the side of the refugees, widows and orphans."

p. 239

"'I request America to look within our hearts,' Abbas continued, his voice straining with emotion, "and see that the great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people. Our land is sticken with poverty because we are without education. But today, another candle of knowledge has been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in."

p. 257

"Mortenson urged Finley's readers not to lump all Muslim's together. The Afghan children flocking to refugee camps were victims, Mortenson argued, deserving of our sympathy.... The only way we can defeat terrorism is if people in this country where terrorists exist learn to love and respect Americans' Mortenson concluded, 'and if we can respect and love the people here. What's the difference between them becoming a productive local citizen or a terrorists? I think the key is education."

p. 258

"He likens Mortenson's returning to post 9/11 Pakistan, two months before Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and beheading, to New York City's firefighters rushing into the wounded World Trade Center. 'When Greg wins the Nobel Peace Prize, I hope the judges in Oslo point to that day,' Shimanski says. 'This guy Greg quietly, doggedly, heading back into a war zone to do battle with the real causes of terror is every bit as heroic as those fireman running up the stairs of those burning towers while everyone else was frantically trying to get out. "

p.273