Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenon
I have just read a tremendous book that makes us all feel that we haven't done enough with our lives when we see how this young man has helped so many. Greg gets lost after trying to climb K2, gets rescued and ends up in Pakistan Village. He promises to build them a school. This book tells the trials of dealing in Pakistan to build the school, then how he goes on to raise money and build more, creating a foundation to continue the work. Each school only costs about $12,000 because the village donates the land and the labour. It is an excellent story of one man, with a few friends, starting something that gives him a focus for his life, and helping so many others. I visited the site of the Central Asia Institute and saw how many more schools, principally for girls, that he has built since this book. It shows a much nicer face of Muslim people and I can only believe more truthful, than we see in the news every day. It gives me great pleasure in retrospect for the teaching of the two young Pakistani women on the top-up course at University.
What spoils it all was the item in the news last week that there are three presidents of countries in the world who are billionaires, and the president of Pakistan is one. Why should it be necessary for the likes of a lone American to have to do so much for the underprivileged of these other countries, while their 'upper class' ignores them?
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3 comments:
Every country has an underprivileged class, and every country has an upper class that ignores them. Is that President any 'worse' than citizens of nations that routinely exert influence on less developed nations for their competitive advantage? The US is a fine example but Britain is hardly exempt (and I'm sure Japan isn't either, being so influenced by US politics). We've been waging war for almost a decade to secure what little oil remains, so we can put it in our four-tracks and use it to make plastic toys that last a week. We live in such comfort and choose not to see the cost to others of our lifestyle. We are all personally responsible for our choices, but few of us choose to accept that responsibility especially when we spend our money.
Still, if it's any consolation... if that president had his billion in dollars it'll only be worth half a billion these days ;)
If David Cameron gave Great Britain's 650 Million Pounds to Greg Mortensen, I bet that he would build a lot more schools than the Government of Pakistan is going to.
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