Thursday, October 3, 2019
“Three Cups of Tea†by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin Essay Example for Free
â€Å"Three Cups of Tea†by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin Essay The number one New York bestseller â€Å"Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peaceâ€â€One school at a Time†had received much acclaim from critics worldwide, not because it was beautifully written but simply because the story itself is uniquely remarkable. If we set aside the positive criticisms about this book, only a handful of negative criticisms will be surfaced. These negative criticisms would only include minor remarks on the writing style that concerns the over-dramatization of the story of Greg Mortenson. The critics call this flaw of the book â€Å"too much of milking the moment.†But then again, these negative comments about the book don’t have much bearing to the credibility of the book. â€Å"Three Cups of Tea†is nevertheless one of the most remarkable non-fictional stories of our time.            The book was basically about an admirable journey of a man from being just an ordinary man towards being a humanitarian giving the word â€Å"altruism†a contextualized contemporary meaning. The name of the man is Greg Mortenson , the author of the book alongside co-author David Oliver Relin. The negative criticisms were primarily focused to Relin, acussing his writing as not being top-caliber, while everybody is admiring Greg Mortenson’s story.            The content of the book is extraordinary, but that also applies to the title of the book â€Å"Three Cups of Tea.†Greg Mortenson and co-author David Oliver Relin have encountered this Balti proverb â€Å"the very first time you share tea with a Balti you are a stranger the second time you are the honored guest. For the third time you become family†(Mortenson Relin, 2007, p. 150) The authors of the book made the right choice of title for the book. That Balti proverb had given the reader an idea of the culture of those in the Central Asia. The Balti proverb doesn’t only talks about the Balti people’s admirable hospitality, but also presents an ideal of how people should treat each other. If taken in literal terms, the Balti proverb also alludes to Greg Mortenson’s back and forth travel from the U.S. to the village of Korphe and vice-versa. The book had started with an introductory part about the author and protagonist, Greg Mortenson, which was entitled â€Å"In Mr. Mortenson’s Orbit.†The introductory part serves to make the readers relate more to the author/protagonist. After all, it would be much easier for the audience to relate to the protagonist if the readers have at least an idea of whom they will be spending their whole journey throughout a one-inch or more book. This part also establishes a sense of credibility on the part of Greg Mortenson. After all, there is a saying that says the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. The same analogy applies for the relationship of the book and the author.            The introductory part will be followed by all the chapters of the book. The whole book is comprised by twenty-three chapters. It is very noticeable that the book started out with the first chapter entitled â€Å"Failure.†Here are the chapters according to their order: Failure, The Wrong Side Of The River, Progress And Perfection, Self-Storage, 580 Letters, One Check, Rawaldipindi’s Rooftops At Dusk, Hard Way Home, beaten by the Braldu, the people have spoken, building bridges, six days, Haji’s lesson, a smile should be more than a memory, equilibrium, Mortenson in motion, red velvet box, cherry trees in the sand, shrouded figure, a village called New York, tea with the Taliban, Rumsfeld’s shoes, stones into schools. All of the chapters narrate Greg Mortenson’s amazong journey from being an ordinary man towards becoming a man that became extraordinary by selflessly helping others. The book will end wi th an acknowledgement part that extends gratitude to the people and institutions that had helped Greg Mortenson and his noble cause. Summary            For us to know better the book and the author of the book himself, here is a summary that includes an introduction of the author. However, it must be noted that this summary may contain spoilers that may ruin the experience of reading one of our time’s most inspiring book. All information cited in this paper came solely from the book â€Å"Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peaceâ€â€One School at a time†by the authors Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, Pubnlished by Penguin in 2007.            The year was 1993 when the climbing enthusiast had decided that he will climb K2, the second highest peak in the world, to honor her deceased sister by scattering her beads on the top of the mountain. Greg Mortenson was then an emergency room nurse back then. During the course of their mountain climb, his fellow climber had to be rescued due to a life-threatening accident. The rescue itself became more tiring than the whole climb itself. Being exhausted from the rescue, Greg Mortenson became disoriented and dehydrated. Consequently, he became lost on his way down. It was such profound irony that after Greg Mortenson was helping his fellow climber, after that he was in need of help. The two local porters led Greg Mortenson to small village, the village of Korphe. The village was small and poor, deprived of anything that can be associated with the comforts available in the western world. The villagers there took good care of Greg Mortenson, especially the leader of the village Haji Ali. In exchange for the warm hospitality of Haji Ali and the rest of the villagers, Greg Mortenson had donated almost all his climbing equipments for the villagers to utilize. He also used his nursing background to treat some minor injuries of the villagers with the use of his first aid kit.            After a little while, Greg Mortenson developed an interest for the community that had taken good care and had accepted him. He then asked Haji Aji to show him around, and then he asked the leader of the village to show him the village school. What he saw was an open ledge that admits eighty-two of the village children. The children were standing in the bare ground, without slippers or shoes, holding a stick so that they could scratch multiplication tables on the ground. The image of the eagerness of the village children to learn pierced right through Greg Mortenson’s heart. The village children had reminded him much of his sister. He felt that by establishing a school in Korphe, he will not just honor his deceased sister, he will also make a profound change in the lives of the people of Korphe. Before he had set for home, he promised Haji Ali and the rest of the villagers that he will do everything in his power to build Korphe a more adequate school.            When he got back to the U.S., he went back to his job as an emergency room nurse. But he didn’t forget about the promise that he made to Haji Ali and the people of Korphe. While working shifts, Greg Mortenson wrote five-hundred-eighty letters for sponsorships to well-off and known personalities. The rough approximate amount needed to build the school in Korphe was a whopping twelve thousand dollars. All his letters were rejected, almost all. Fortunately, a retired Swiss physicist and also a climbing enthusiast Dr. Jean Hoerni (also a pioneer in Silicon Valley) sent a pleasant reply. The doctor was impressed by the altruism of Greg Mortenson, and she wrote in a check the amount that is needed to build the school. So he went back to the village of Korphe. He was then told by Haji Ali that the village needed first a bridge to connect them to key urban areas. Greg Mortenson asked again Dr. Jean Hoerni for the amount needed to build the bridge. The very generous Dr. Jean Hoerni had granted him the amount but she said to Greg Mortenson â€Å"Don’t screw up†(Mortenson Relin, 2007, p. 55). He did his best not to screw up and he didn’t. He bought all the necessary equipments to build the bridge and the school then went back to Korphe. His altruism didn’t end there; Greg Mortenson then created the Central Asia Institute. The Mortenson along with the institute and some friends their time, money and efforts to build schools for areas in Pakistan just like Korphe. Significant change in the lives of the village children            Like most of us, Greg Mortenson also believes that education can save the world from poverty and terrorism. But for Greg Mortenson, education of young girls is of more importance to than the education of the boys. This may touch a little bit the sensitive issue of sexism, but Greg Mortenson has an interesting and convincing reason for leaning towards the education of young girls. He had said that educated young males tend to leave their villages to seek employment in the cities. On the other hand, the young girls just stay at home. In a sense they become leaders of the community by upbringing the new generation. They pass on what they have learned to their children but the problem there is that their knowledge is inadequate. Greg Mortenson believes that the education of young girls is really the key towards profound change. (Mortenson Relin, 2007, p. 209) What led Greg Mortenson to help these people? What led to Greg Mortenson’s actions can be skimmed into a generalization that it is not his direct actions, but rather his failures. The book’s first chapter is not entitled â€Å"Failures†for no significant reason. Gred Mortenson had failed in his attempt to honor his deceased sister by scattering her beads on the peak of K2, one of the highest mountain peaks in the world. This failure had led him to the small mountain village named â€Å"Korphe,†where he had an epiphany that he should help these people that had willingly helped him. In the course of the book, he will send hundreds of letters to personalities who can afford granting him the amount he needs to subsidize his goal of helping the people of Korphe. Only one of these letters for sponsorship will be replied. A well-off retired Swiss physicist by the name of Dr. Jean Hoerni was touched by Mortenson’s altruistic desire to help others. The physicist had granted him twelve thousand dollars to fund his mission. Failures were prevalent in the whole book, interspersed in every chapter. The story of Greg Mortenson tells us that failures shouldn’t mean that it is the end of the climb. The book implies to us that failures may shun us away from our initial goals, but they are also the chance for us to do something more special. Being a climber, Greg Mortenson may have not reached the peak of the mountain, but he had made significant changes in the lives of many people in need enabling these people to reach new heights. Greg Mortenson’s altruism had put him on top of these people’s gratitude list. What help did he received?            The story of Greg Mortenson had shown us the irony that a person who want’s to help others also needs help from others. Greg Mortenson is just an ordinary man with an ordinary job, what makes him special is his altruismâ€â€but altruism alone wouldn’t build a bridge and school. Fortunately, there are still generous people like Dr. Jean Hoerni who is willing to give some to the needy. Friends and families also gave the strength to Greg Mortenson. The memory of her sister really gave him a push. As the village children reminded him of her sister, the load of helping others seemed to be lightened because he was like just helping family.            Aside from those assists, Greg Mortenson also received much needed help from the mediaâ€â€particularly from the reporter named Kevin Fedarko. The reporter wrote a story about Greg Mortenson and his mission in a magazine called â€Å"Parade.†After the story was read by the public, Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute had received many donations and words of admiration and encouragement.            But out of these people who had helped Greg Mortenson in his mission, the beneficiaries of this mission were of the greatest help Greg Mortenson had received, especially the village leader Haji Ali. After all, if it weren’t for the people of Korphe, he might have been lost in the mountains, or something worse. Haji Ali also gave him an important advice regarding his mission of building schools,. Haji Ali told Greg Mortenson that he should have a good relationship with the village people. By having a good relationship with the locals, including the Taliban leaders, Greg Mortenson gained access to areas only a few Westerners are able to reach. Did he accomplish his goals?            â€Å"Yes†is the only answer to this inquiry. The education that the village children had received from the new schools will definitely have a positive impact in their community. The education that the children have received will be passed on to generations after generations. Greg Mortenson’s mission may have only reached a small part of the whole world, but he had become an inspiration worldwide. Greg Mortenson had shown the world that there are still people like him that can make a profound change in the world. He is just as ordinary as everyone, with an ordinary life and ordinary job. He had shown to the whole world that even ordinary individuals can achieve extraordinary and significant feats. Work Cited Mortenson, Greg. Relin, David Oliver. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote
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