Book inspires Teatown club to make a difference
A book club that meets regularly in Teatown has produced some spirited conversation among its faithful members.
But after reading a book about hardships in Central Asia and the value of education, the reading club was moved beyond words and into action, to help build classrooms for youngsters thousands of miles away.
The book the group read, “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson, tells the true story of a small school being built in Pakistan.
“You can build a school for $10,000 or so,” said Linda Conte, a Teatown resident, “And I thought, it’s a doable number.”
Conte and her fellow Croton-area neighbors and book lovers have organized a large tag sale for June 5. It will be held at three homes: 355 Blinn Road, 384 Blinn Road and 1420 Journey’s End Road, Croton, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine.
“As a mother, a teacher, and a citizen of the world, I believe very strongly in education,” said Conte, who has two grown children and worked as a special education teacher in Peekskill. “You can lose everything in life, but you’ll always have an education.”
Many of the members of the reading group are educators, so the story about building schools for young girls in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan struck a chord.
The 2006 book tells the story of an American mountain climber, Mortenson, who got lost after an unsuccessful attempt to scale the K2 mountain in Pakistan and was nursed back to health by the poor villagers who took him in. Mortenson, then 36, made an impulsive promise to build a school for the village to repay its kindness — a promise that has since become his life’s mission.
“He just took that mission all the way,” noted Sherry Horowitz, the director of Childrenspace in Croton, a child care center. “It’s a perfect example of what one person can do. It’s very inspiring.”
Mortensen has built more than one school. An organization he helped to found, the Central Asia Institute, has established 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and provided classroom instruction to more than 51,000 students, with an emphasis on girls’ education. Proceeds from the tag sale will be donated to the Central Asia Institute.
The organizers have an autographed copy of “Three Cups of Tea” signed by Mortenson that will be up for sale. Conte said she met the author at a recent talk and found him to be soft-spoken, a bit shy and “profound.”
The tag sale will feature plenty of vintage clothing, toys, housewares, plants and sundries. A handwoven Pakistani rug and other prizes will be raffled. The Teatown Area Neighborhood Network will have a booth at the Croton Summerfest, a large-scale block party along Grand Street and Old Post Road North, on June 6, and the drawing will be held around 5:30 p.m.
“It’s so little for us, and it could change the lives of a lot of people,” said Celeste Theis, a social worker who took part in the reading.
(c) 2010 The Journal News
http://www.lohud.com/article/20100530/NEWS02/5300414/1018/NEWS02/Book-inspires-Teatown-club-to-make-a-difference
