Greg Mortenson's second book Stones Into Schools is published on the heels of an additional deployment of 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan. It is heartening to know that US military commanders are listening and respect Greg Mortenson's approach. He has had the privilege of briefing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. Three Cups of Tea is now required reading for all officers enrolled in counterinsurgency courses at the Pentagon.
Building Peaceful Relationships and Schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Supported by Dr. Jean Hoerni, Greg Mortenson founded the Central Asia Institute (CAI) in 1996. CAI has been promoting education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan for 16 years. As of 2009 CAI has established 131 schools, educating more than 58,000 students, including 44,000 girls. While many Afghan schools are attacked by the Taliban and Islamist extremists, so far no CAI schools have been destroyed. Mortenson attributes this to the fact that village elders and local communities play a crucial role in the building process. CAI staff works hard to build relationships with locals and once these are established, villagers consider the foreign helpers as family. They are ready to protect the schools with their lives. CAI schools are marked with a white star visible from afar and from the air.
Admiral Mike Mullen about Greg Mortenson
"What Greg understands better than most — and what he practices more than anyone else I know— is the simple truth that all of us are better off when all of us have the opportunity to learn, especially our children", says Mike Mullen. "By helping them with basic education, he's shaping the very future of a region and giving hope to an entire generation (Journal of Hope, Vol.III)". In the mountains of rural Pakistan and Afghanistan — where schools are scarce and all too often supported by radical extremists close to the Taliban and Al Quaida — female literacy rates are at 36 and 13 percent respectively according to The World Factbook.
