K2, The Taliban and Tea

I've just finished "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin, and it was well worth the effort. It's a biography written by a journalist who has followed climber-turned-humanitarian Greg Mortensen for the last two years. Greg is the founder of the Central Aisa Institute (CAI), whose primary aim is to provide a balanced education for children, primarily in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a need that was recognised when he stumbled, lost and exhausted, across a rural village in Pakistan after a failed climbing attempt on K2.

The book chronicles his personal journey from making an ill-advised promise to build a school to a village elder to rushing around Central Asia maintaining fifty-five schools and expanding the program. Particularly interesting is the effect of the events of September 11th on his quest, and the struggles and alliances created with the Muslim influence in the region; if anything, it's a great example of open-mindedness and tolerence, qualities sadly lacking in the media for the last decade.

There's a website (the institute is still trying to raise money, after all) and if you get the chance, buy the book through it as a proportion of the sale goes to fund the CAI's projects. Inspiring stuff, I'd reccommend it to everyone.

Lima, Peru

2nd November 2009