Greg Mortenson

Three cups of tea is the title of a paperback that I got as a gift from my brother in California recently. It is indeed a gift par excellence that I wish to share with everyone here in the Gulf, particularly those people who are concerned at the spread of terrorism and its collateral fallout on Muslims everywhere.

Here is something which we could contribute to and take comfort that 
we have saved a young mind from 
plunging into camp of the enemies of Islam.

‘Three cups of tea’ is the advice given to American mountaineer Greg Mortensen seeking to befriend the remote Balti tribe under the shadow of K2 — the world’s second tallest peak in Pakistan.

“If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways,” advises the tribal chief.

“The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you are an honoured guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you are a family member, and for a family member, we are prepared to do anything, even die.” Mortensen, it turns out, takes the advice to heart in his self-appointed mission of establishing schools for children in remote inaccessible areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This mission began in 1993 when the K2 expedition he was leading had to be aborted just 2000 feet shy of the summit.

Returning disappointed and exhausted, the climbers took shelter in the hamlet of Korphe the icy base camp for the summit. Abject poverty and the rudimentary living conditions moved him to action.

Inspired by his parents’ work to start a hospital and school on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, and by fellow climber Edmund Hillary’s charitable work in the Nepalese Himalayas, he promises to return to build a school for Korphe’s children. Mortenson delivered on his pledge and has gone on to create his non-profit, the Central 
Asia Institute (CAI), that has built 78 schools serving 28,000 students in remote, politically volatile pockets of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it runs nearly 50 others in regional refugee camps.

CAI schools give primary importance to education of girls , some of which are coeducational. They teach the standard government school curriculum of Pakistan. Their success owes much to Mortensen’s respect for local traditions, which he himself scrupulously observes and which are followed in the administration of the schools under his care.

He is quick to pick up languages and speaks fluent Balti and Urdu. The 
book co-authored by Mortensen projects him as a concerned individual independent of government or church support and relying solely individual donations.

Mortenson gathers the funds through talk shows at an eclectic mix of college and high school campuses, churches and civic groups across the United States.

According to the website www.ikat.org he is booked through the end of 2009, except for brief intervals when he visits the schools in Pakistan.

On the forthcoming national day of Pakistan on March 23, this intrepid mountaineer who scales new peaks by opening yet another school, is scheduled to receive Sitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan) Award — Pakistan’s highest civil award.

Ali Ishrati can be reached at aliishrati@khaleejtimes.com

© Kaleej Times 2009

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