I’ve been reading a book, Three Cups of Tea, recently. This book states a real story of an American man, Greg Mortenson, who helped build schools for children in Pakistan. I bought this book few months ago. Even though it is said never judge a book by its cover, I was actually captivated by the cover of this book, Three Cups of Tea. The cover shows a picture of three Pakistan girls who are wearing traditional Pakistan cloth concentrate on books; and there are words state “Three Cups of Tea: one man’s mission to promote peace…one school at a time”. I quickly read over the reviews of this book on the first page, and then decided to purchase it.
Why is it called “Three Cups of Tea”? It comes from the Pakistani’s tradition: in Pakistan and Afghanistan, people drink three cups of tea to do business; the first cup of tea means you are a stranger, the second cup means you become a friend of them, the third cup means you join their family, and for their family you are prepared to do anything. Here goes Greg Mortenson, a climber, was trying to conquer one of the toughest mountains in the world-K2, which is happened in Pakistan; unfortunately not only he was suffering from the altitude of the mountain, but also lost his way when he tried to reach the top. Luckily he was rescued by Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief. It surprised Mortenson that he wasn’t viewed as a foreigner by the village members; in fact, he felt welcomed and was offered three cups of tea. One day, he saw some kids were drawing and writing under a big tree. He was told that they did not even have a single school in this village for children to learn. Mortenson felt sorry for these kids, moreover he was touched by these kids’ eagerness for learning. He promised to build a school for them. Mortenson went back to the United States, and worked hard to amass money from benefactors. Finally he had enough money to build a school for children in Korphe village. However, things were not that easy, there were troubles and obstacles on the road to successes; indeed, Mortenson needed to overcome many difficulties in order to meet his promise.
It was the first third of the story. I stopped at there, and started to think. What made an American want to help Pakistan children? Compassion? Love? Probably his life experience? Mortenson has a younger sister who was died at a very young age due to medical problems. Mortenson loves his sister. Trying to reach the pinnacle of the toughest mountain in the world not only for himself, but very much also for his sister because he wanted to let the nature remember his poor young sister. However, he did not accomplish the goal. He was disappointed and sad; he felt his world was dark. “When [the sky] is dark enough, you can see the stars.” Think it in a different way, the world will be different. Although he did not make it to the summit of the mountain, he had a chance to perceive people from another world, and gain different perspectives too. Mortenson still loves his sister, but in a different way, which is more remarkable and philanthropic.
