Greg Mortenson

The National Education Association teachers union today will honor Bozeman’s Greg Mortenson, builder of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and co-author of “Three Cups of Tea,” with a special human and civil rights award at the association’s annual meeting in San Diego, Calif.

Mortenson will receive the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award, named in honor of a former NEA president and given to someone who has had a significant impact on education and equal opportunity for women and girls.

Mortenson’s book, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time,” has topped The New York Times bestseller list for more than two years (125 weeks). He is known internationally for creating schools in some of the most remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Through his nonprofit Central Asia Institute, Mortenson has worked with villagers to build more than 80 schools and employ local teachers.

“Greg Mortenson’s book is an outstanding and inspirational story of the possible,” said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. “Every student in America’s public schools should receive a copy to learn firsthand what one person can truly do to make a difference in the world.”

Mortenson also established Pennies for Peace to educate U.S. schoolchildren about the world and to show they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. Last year, Pennies for Peace raised more than $1 million.

Mortenson’s humanitarian work grew out of his gratitude to members of Pakistan’s Korphe village, who nursed him back to health after his 1993 attempt to climb K2, the world’s second highest mountain. Seeing Korphe children writing their lessons in the dirt with sticks, he realized how much they wanted to learn and how little was available in the village.

Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, the “Star of Pakistan,” for his efforts to promote education and literacy.

(c) Bozeman Daily Chronicle 2009

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