Presentation by Mrs. Susannah Phongxaysanith

Sept 15, 2011

THREE CUPS OF TEA

BY GREG MORTENSON AND DAVID OLIVER

RELIN

video

David Mortenson’s Early Years• Born in 1958 in Minnesota•When 3 months old, moved with parents were missionaries to Tanzania to establish a teaching hospital• Took 14 years to complete• Attended Moshi International School• Mother established the school• “It was like a little United Nations. There

were twenty-eigth different nationalities and we celebrated all the holidays: Hanukkah, Christmas, Diwali, the Feast of Id.”

• Three younger sister Christa had bad reaction to smallpox vaccine and suffered physical & mental damage• Climbed Kilimanjaro at age 11

Lessons from Early Life• At ribbon-cutting of hospital in Tanzania, Mortenson’s father empowered the local population• Predicted in 10 years that entire hospital would be run by the

Africans without any help from the missionaries

• “Watching him up there,” Mortenson says, “I felt so proud that this big, barrel-chested man was my father. He taught me, he taught all of us, that if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything.”

Back to America• Culture shock• Signed up for military immediately after high school• Stationed in Germany & trained as medic• Father died of cancer at age 48• Moved to California & became a hard-core rock-climber • Sister Christa died at age 23 of massive seizure

K2 • To honor sister’s memory, attempted to climb highest mountain in Pakistan• Failed• Got lost overnight & ended up in unmapped village, Korphe• People of Korphe nursed Mortenson back to health and showed him their village•When asked to see their school saw 82 children, without a teacher, kneeling on the ground in the freezing air• Promised the village he would come back and build a school

Major Highlights

•Mortenson's Website

• Founder of the Central Asia Institute• “As of 2011, Mortenson has established or

significantly supports 171 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 68,000 children, including 54,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.”

• Wrote Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools• Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Comparison

• Dedicated to helping rural communities in 3rd world countries•Works in Pakistan & Afghanistan• Struggled to get funding• Founded the Central Asia Institute• Provides education, especially to girls• Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

• Felt calling to work with poor•Worked in India• Struggle to get funding• Founded her own order of nuns, the Missionaries of Charity• Provided education, especially to girls and orphans•Won Nobel Peace Prize in 1979

Greg MortensonMother Theresa

Bio PoemGreg

Is a mountain climber who turned failure into opportunity.

He excels at understanding and respecting different cultures.

He loves children, education & helping othersHe believes in teaching communities how to

overcome poverty.He stands for peace, understanding, and freedom.

He would like to see children across the world get an education.Mortenson