Three Cups of Tea Final Reflection

One adjective comes to mind when I think of the story told in Three Cups of Tea: Epic. Almost everything encompassed within this book would indeed fall under my "epic" category. The goals that have been set, the achievements which have been reached, the determination of the people involved,and the locales and communities which were a part of the story were all epic. This is definitely one of the most enlightening and eye opening books I've ever read.

Greg Mortenson is a truly amazing person; its a shame there aren't more people like him. Many people talk about being righteous and putting other people before themselves, but Mortenson actually does it. The amount of his own life that he has given up in order to assist those less fortunate than himself is incomprehensible. Its a pretty special thing when a person is willing to be so devoted to help. The cool thing about Mortenson's work is that, apart from the obvious direct impact upon the communities in which he built schools, there is a huge indirect impact on the future and even the rest of the world. Mortenson stated multiple times that the more education there is, the less chance of terrorism there will be.

One thing that this book make me realize is how much we take for granted. It's pretty eye opening when you think about what the people who live in places similar to Korphe don't have. No convenient water systems, no electric, etc...simply not having access to those two commodities would change the way we live so drastically. I like to eat and snack, so alot of the times when i pass through the kitchen, I'll grab a little bag of Doritos or a couple Oreos. In Korphe, though, I'd barely be able to eat one meager meal a day. Its pretty admirable how they manage to get by, though. Their inginuity never ceases to amaze me. Stuff like the goat-bladder rafts and the makeshift irrigation systems always seem pretty cool to me.

The cool thing about this novel is that, even though the book is finished, the story is not. Mortenson's organization, the CAI, will continue to provide assistance to these middle eastern areas. I hope they continue to have the mindset and necessary funds to continue their work in these countries.

I mentioned that i'm not a huge non-fiction fan in one of my earlier blogs. That stills holds true for this novel, but by no means does this take away from what I think of the story that it tells. This is definitely on of the most amazing stories that I've ever read, and I'm glad that we're doing the cookie sale to help out. Congradulations, and good luck in the future, to Greg and all who were involved in this story.