I Spent My 4th of July Learning How to Fight Terrorism (Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin)

Three Cups of Tea is the true story of an American who, after a failed summit attempt on K2, decides to build a school in the remote Karakoram region of Pakistan for the small village that helped him recuperate from his expedition. Mortensen, the American, soon learns that a) it's a lot harder than it looks to build a school in Pakistan and b) that education for all children is really the only way to effectively combat fundamentalist Muslim teachings and, therefore, fight terrorism.

Everyone out there who has ever taken a world history or global politics class (or even if you just read a lot of newspapers) knows that in places like Central Asia and the Middle East, an army can't just swoop in, take over, and expect to be loved by the people in that country. You have to not just learn the customs, but understand the reasons for those customs. The title of the book says it all: Three Cups of Tea. It is explained later in the book: you sit down for the first cup of tea as a stranger, by the second cup, you are an honored guest, and by the third cup, you are a member of the family. In order to help others, you have to take the time to know, understand, and be accepted by them.

The lesson put forth in Three Cups of Tea (besides the trite "one person can change the world") is that education is the root of all problems; or, perhaps more to the point, a lack of education is the root of all problems. In areas like Pakistan and Afghanistan, the educational system is extremely flawed, and it does not even exist in some places. But with education, lives are changed. Young men are less likely to fall prey to the fundamentalist teachings of conservative mullahs and Muslim schools and are more likely to help pull their families and villages out of poverty. Young women are able to learn and become equals with their husbands, and are able to adequately nourish and care for their families. Poverty rates and infant mortality rates drop, and this can all be accomplished for about $12,000 American dollars. That seems like a bargain to ensure the security of our great nation, right?

Mortensen began a nonprofit organization, the Central Asia Institute. You can check them out at www.ikat.org to find out more (or donate a few dollars to help build another school). And please, read Three Cups of Tea. It's fantastic, especially for my fellow humanitarian tree huggers (as my Dad would say). And as always, Happy Reading!