About this item
One man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia: in 1993 Greg Mortenson was an American mountain-climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of a Pakistani village, he promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time--Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. In a region where Americans are often feared and hated, he has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children.
About the Author
photo (c) 2009 Khyber Mortenson
Greg Mortenson is the co-founder and director of the nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org and founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org.
He is the co-author of Three Cups of Tea www.threecupsoftea.com, which has been a New York Times nonfiction paperback bestseller for overfour years, and published in 49 countries, and also the author of Stones Into Schools, Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs in Afghanistan and Pakistan www.stonesintoschools.com.
Since a 1993 climb of Pakistan's K2, Mortenson has worked in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan to promote education and literacy, to establish 178 schools, especially for girls, which provide education to over 68,000 students, including 54,000 females.
Three Cups of Tea is required reading for senior U.S. military commanders, and U.S. Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committe. The book has been a freshman or common book read in over 160 universities and colleges, and a 'One Book' read in over 400 communities.
His second book, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books Not Bombs in Pakistan and Afghanistan debuted at # 2 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list.
In 2009, Mortenson received the Sitara-e-Pakistan, which is Pakistan's highest civil award for his humanitarian efforts, While not overseas, Mortenson is a prolific reader, and enjoys being home in Montana with his wife and two children in Montana.
More detailed biography on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Mortenson
Mortenson is on Twitter gregmortenson.
