Post-Bulletin (Rochester MN)

Post-Bulletin (Rochester MN)

Friday, February 8, 2008

Greg Mortenson: Bringing trust, with a capital Tea

By Christina Killion Valdez

Greg Mortenson does not see himself as the terrorism-fighting hero some people make him out to be -- the egomaniac, rock star or Indiana Jones either.

"I've been called everything from the most critical to an angel or a saint," said Mortenson, whose book "Three Cups of Tea" chronicles his journey to build schools in some of the most volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

So how does he describe himself? "I'm a Midwestern, Minnesota Lutheran, a dad, a parent and a husband who is passionate about education," he said.

He added co-author to that list, he said, as a way of explaining to his children Amira, 11, and Khber, 7, why their dad hasn't always been around.

Over the past 12 years, Mortenson has been gone, usually on trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan, for 65 months -- about five years, he said.

More than a book for his kids, this dad's journey has enraptured readers around the world, who've kept the book on the New York Times bestseller list for a year.

Although Mortenson overcame great obstacles -- including dangerous terrain, an eight-day kidnapping and hate mail and death threats from Americans after Sept. 11, 2001 -- to help Muslim children and families in find success, he noted that the first chapter starts with "The F-word" -- failure.

"We've all failed in our lives," he said. "Our success is based on failure and making mistakes. I started this endeavor because I failed to get to the top of a mountain. I flunked my first drivers license test in Roseville.

"We are so focused on success and achievement and we don't realize failure is an important thing," he added, reciting the proverb. "When it's dark you can see the stars."

From that dark start rises Mortenson's success in building schools for some of the world's neediest children. Yet, as the title suggests, constructing block and wood structures starts by building relationships, usually over tea.

The first cup you are a stranger, the second a friend, the third cup family, but the process takes many years, he said.

While that doesn't fit the American ideal of instant gratification, even as a military veteran, Mortenson said, he believes that's the best way to create stability in a region now considered the frontlines of the war on terrorism.

"I do this to promote peace, not fight terrorism", Mortenson said. "If you fight terrorism, it's based in fear; if you promote peace, it's based in hope. The real enemy is ignorance. That breeds hatred, whether in America, Pakistan, Afghanistan or Africa."