I highly recommend this book! It has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read for months, but once I finally picked it up I couldn't stop reading. This is such an inspiring true story of one man's quest to change the world for the better. Greg Mortenson was climbing K2 in Pakistan when he met a village of people who saved his life and he repayed them by building a school for their children. That sparked his quest to build schools and women centers for the poorest people in Pakistan and Afganistan. He emphasizes education for girls inparticular, noting that the fastest way to improve infant mortality rates, hygiene, and community life is to get the women of the village educated at least through the fifth grade.
The story is truly amazing to see how he started with nothing and now runs the Central Asia Insitute (CAI) building and maintaing schools in parts of the world where war has ravaged the people for centuries. It is so inspiring to hear how he is combating terror by giving children a balanced education. His schools never teach Western culture, but they teach math, science, langauge, English and other basic classes. His way of fighting terror sounds so much more effective than our military bombing everything and then leaving destruction in our wake without helping to rebuild. Thousands of madrassas have sprung up in Pakistan and Afganistan teaching Jihadist Islamic ways and indoctrinating children who have no other options for education. Greg's work is opening people's eyes to the fact that most Muslims are not terrorist and are in fact the warmest, friendliest people in the world. The people he works with are so poor and education is the best way to help them and their communities and make the world safer. I really hope the book becomes a movie because it is just incredible what he has been able to do and how he does it.
5 comments:
Maybe I should recommend this one for my RS book club.
It would be a great selection! So inspiring and really makes you think how we should be fighting the war on terror. It does give a lot of hope but there is so much still to do.
I am going to reserve this at my library. Thanks!
I got a good way into this book but got stuck in the part with the buying the supplies to make the buildings. I should try finishing it though. It was very inspiring up until that point. The guy reminded me A LOT of my brother David, who also lived out of a car in California, actually while I was reading the book. His only other place he has his stuff in. . a storage shed.
The book gets so much better after he buys his first supplies because you see just how wonderful the people of Pakistan are. Not all of them, of course, but the complete strangers who take up Greg's cause for the children of their country is amazing. Some even include Taliban warlords.
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