Three Cups of Tea

Yesterday RK and I went to hear author Greg Mortenson speak about his bestselling book Three Cups of Tea. He was the keynote speaker for the conference (last year it was Jim Collins). He spoke for about an hour and I was in tears by the end of the presentation. He was so moving and inspirational. He spoke about his life and how he got to where he is: starting as a baby and into teens growing up at the foot of Mt. Kilamanjaro in Tanzania to late teens in the Midwest to enlisting in the military to now, a man who has created a movement.

When Mortenson was younger he decided to climb K2 but didn't quite make it to the top. He felt that he had to try to prove to himself that he could accomplish something, but he never made it to the top. Instead, he met some villagers in Northern Pakistan and stayed with them for a while. They saw that he needed help (during at after his climb is was like a nomad and hadn't showered in *84* days). They took him in an cared for him. He saw that the village had no school and no teacher so when he left a child asked him if he could help them get a teacher and a school - which he promised to do. He came back to the States to fundraise and wrote 530 letters to famous people (spent $130 on postage) and only raised $100 (from Tom Brokaw). So, he asked his mom for help (an elementary school principal). They raised 66,000 pennies and so the movement "Pennies for Peace" began. Since then, Mortenson has raised enough money to open a couple hundred schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has seen a huge increase in literacy, a decrease in birth rates, and of course - the satisfaction of helping thousands receive an education. Currently there are about 3,000 Pennies for Peace programs around the world in schools, libraries, churches, etc.

Mortenson wasn't the most dynamic speaker I have ever heard, but he was one of the more inspirational. Last night when RK and I got out of our cab, he got in. I thanked him for a great talk but forgot to hand over my pennies...

Michelle