"The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger, the second time, you are an honored guest. The third time you become family." --Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief

During a failed 1993 expedition to climb K2, trauma nurse and mountaineer Greg Mortenson stumbled into a remote mountain village in Pakistan. Out of gratitude for the villagers' assistance when he was lost and near death, he vowed to build a school for the children who had no teacher, and who were scratching their lessons in the dirt with twigs. Mortenson faced daunting challenges of raising funds, death threats from enraged mullahs, separation from his family, and a kidnapping to eventually build 55 schools deep in Taliban territory. The result is an inspirational story of one man's efforts to address poverty, educate girls, and overcome cultural divides, Three Cups of Tea, which won the 2007 Kiriyama Prize for nonfiction,is a story of overcoming obstacles to make the world a better and safer place. Mortenson and Relin argue that improved access to education and efforts to alleviate poverty are vital to the fight against Islamic extremism.

Mortenson's original promise to build a school is a project that gave rise to the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, schools that provide balanced education and opportunities, especially for girls. Pennies For Peace was also born of this noble endeavor. With compelling portraits of the villagers, con artists, philanthropists, ambitious school girls, and more people that Mortenson has met along the way, this book enables readers to follow along on his journey at a breakneck pace. We can join him as he sleeps in his car in Berkeley, CA to save money for the Korphe school, types letters requesting donations, falls in and out of love, and finds his calling. This book is highly recommended and difficult to put down!

Three Cups of Tea, the song, was composed by Jake Flemming at the request of Amira's father, Greg Mortenson. According to Amazon, "Jeni Fleming of the Jazz influenced folk/pop group, The Jeni Fleming Trio is fast becoming one of the Northwest's most sought after vocalists. Recording artists and tour musicians, she and husband Jake (lyricist, songwriter and producer of Three Cups of Tea) also teach 60 private music students in their Montana home. Amira Mortenson is a 4th grader who loves music and aspires to sing on Broadway. A "Pennies for Peace" activist, she inspires American students to buy pencils for their peers in Pakistan and Afghanistan." Amira travels to the Islamic third world with her father, Greg Mortenson, to personally deliver donated school supplies.

I hope that my readers will forgive me if I seem to rave about not only this book and accompanying CD, but also about the important causes that they support. Admist seemingly countless news reports of cruelty, greed, and other signs of the darker side of human nature, it is encouraging to know that some people are working hard not to line their own pockets, but to make the world a better place for all of us. The Citizens of Earth wish Greg Mortenson, his daughter, and the CAI the best of luck, and encourage everyone to buy the book and CD, Three Cups of Tea. I loved reading/listening, and know that you will, too. Peace.

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Earthly Happenings, Discussing quality of life, social responsibility, equal rights, and environmental and economic sustainability.

"An inspiring chronicle . . . this is one protagonist who clearly deserves to be called a hero." -- People

"Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson's dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it's proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." -- Tom Brokaw

"Mortenson’s mission is admirable, his conviction unassailable, his territory exotic." -- The Washington Post

"Greg Mortenson represents the best of America. He's my hero. And after you read Three Cups of Tea, he'll be your hero, too. "--U.S. representative Mary Bono (R-Calif.)

"Three Cups of Tea is beautifully written. It is also a critically important book at this time in history. The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both failing their students on a massive scale. The work Mortenson is doing, providing the poorest students with a balanced education, is making them much more difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit." --Ahmed Rashid, best-selling author of Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia