Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan

The last chapter of this book before the Epilogue is called "The Last Best School". Mortenson calls it that because, due to circumstances, he had to step away and leave Afghanistan, compelling the Kirghiz people in the remote Wakhan corridor to build the school themselves, which they did, in record time. There was some assistance of supplies and skilled labor from the Central Asian Institute, and supervision from Safraz Khan (Mortenson's substantial partner and guide), but the Kirghiz, a people who had essentially been abandoned by everyone including the central Afghan government, completed the school themselves. They had asked for assistance using US Military helicopters but due to the distance, altitude, and inability to re-fuel, it was not granted. This was the most important message that I found in this book. This school was built ten years after a request was made to Mortenson by Kirghiz men who rode on horseback for a week or so to deliver it to him. I read his first book "Three Cups of Tea" last summer, and it seems as if Mortenson's message has changed a little to encorporate the following: 1) listen to the Afghan (Pakistani,Kashmir, fill in the blank) people, 2) let them tell you what they want to accomplish, 3) ask them what they need to accomplish it, 4) then say (in the words of Baba Ram Dass) "How can I Help?". Another part of the book described how a conflict was solved via communication between a respected mullah who became the headmaster of a girls' school and the local Taliban fighters who were threatening the girls who were attending it. Without committing any violence, he was able to convince them to leave the girls alone. Violence (i.e.,war) should always be a last resort, after all other options have been exhausted. Education is the key to ensuring peace. Let's hope.

Not a sequel to Mortenson's THREE CUPS OF TEA, STONES INTO SCHOOLS is a saga of Mortenson's ten year struggle to keep a promise to Commandhan Abdul Rashid Khan, chief of the Kirghiz, to build a school for his tribe at "the roof of the world" in the village of Bozai Gumbaz, 12,480 feet up in the Pamir Mountains of northern Afghanistan. It was this promise that caused Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute (CAI) to expand its operations beyond its original stomping grounds in the remoter villages of Pakistan. During their struggle, jihad if you will, Greg Mortenson and his Afghan and Pakistani comrades, AKA "The Dirty Dozen," enjoy as, Safraz Khan, one of the many heroes in this story, describes it, "much success" as the Central Asia Institute build a chain of schools, scholarship programs, and literacy centers in war-torn Afghanistan and quake-stricken Pakistan. Mortenson describes an Afghan people who are tired of and traumatized by thirty years of war. Still, they have not given up on life or a better future for their children. He details the slow, if enjoyable, process of building relationships with local leadership in countless villages in Afghanistan and Pakistan (AFPAK) during his many journeys. Important to note, Mortenson does not attempt to inflict American missionary culture and values on AFPAK villagers. I gather from reading Mortenson that every one of the 131 schools he and the CAI built in AFPAK was built at the request of local villagers and with the blessing of local leadership. He did not go village to village selling education as a good thing; villagers sought him out as word spread that he helped build schools. Key to the success of CAI is local ownership of the schools it builds. In each case, CAI requires the local villagers to provide the land and supply unskilled labor to help build the school. CAI provides funds for raw materials and skilled labor to build the school as well as money for school supplies and to pay the teaching staff for up to five years. Mortenson writes of one village where the Taliban nailed a "night letter" to the door of a new CAI school and delivered another one to the home of one of the teachers. In these letters, the Taliban threatened to burn down the school if any girls attended it. They also promised violence to the families of any girls over the age of fourteen who attended school. The villagers responded by naming one of their three mullahs as headmaster for the school. He met with local Taliban and informed them that the actions they proposed in their letters were clearly wrong and against the teachings of the Koran. No more "night letters" were delivered in that village and girls were allowed to attend the school. Along with "much success" there are setbacks. Mortenson writes of a Pakistani girl who was prevented from accepting a CAI scholarship by a jealous brother-in-law. He tells of an Afghan shepherd boy who is killed by a Soviet land mine while grazing his flocks close to a CAI sc

In his latest book, Greg Mortenson hosts the reader as a valuable and welcomed traveling companion as he retraces his steps through the most remote areas of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier areas and the formidable terrain of Afghanistan holding a mirror to our humanity. Mortenson introduces us to his trusted companions t...urned employees of Central Asia Institute, the so-called "Dirty Dozen", who truly embody the virtues of goodwill and perseverance in the name of literacy and, of course, God. In short, Greg Mortenson's work makes Anthony Bordain's exotic travel look like a visit to Epcot Center. Mortenson's committment to cross-cultural understanding beyond the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan is rivaled only by his determination to educate the under-served girls in the most remote areas of these countries. Stones Into Schools is a suspenseful, heart-breaking as it is heart-warming, true account of a life well lived and a people well-served. Mortenson is an honor to the human race and diplomat for world peace. About now, Greg Mortenson would do well to take his own advice and sit for a month under a walnut tree to recuperate.

I read Three Cups of Tea was was incredibly inspired by Greg Mortenson. His second book is even better in my opinion. Teaching people that they have the power to change themselves is so simple but sometimes takes incredibale amounts of work by other people. Greg and his team have performed incredible acts of bravery, endurance, and dedication to the noble cause of providing education to the girls of Pakistan and Afghanistan. You will not be able to put this book down. You also learn firsthand accounts of the success of many of the first girls to go through Greg's schools. Read this book for an incredible account of an individual who has changed the world for so many people,

I tend to collect mostly management books on my Kindle, so I have been looking forward to Greg Mortensen's latest report on his activities in his remote part of the world (also where my son works every day). I don't think the world has two more opposite places than Burnet County and Kunar Province. Since 2003, we've built a nice high school here in Burnet for our 1000+ kids, and later on a playground (stadium). Greg's outfit has built and staffed 129 schools, and innumerable civic improvements, such as bridges and water systems, to supply educational services to a previously unserved populace, at a cost of $1-3/student. I think their whole budget for the six years is less than the cost of one Tomahawk missile, with guidance and delivery (and spare parts). On the other hand General Motors, working in the most car consuming section of Planet Earth, with significant manufacturing infrastructure worldwide, has a hard time making ends meet. In short, Greg's book is now at the top of my list for 2009 management books. Mother Teresa, in response to an interview question about the best way to go about changing the world, said 'Reach out to the nearest one.' Greg, in response to the same question, would probably say 'Go to the Last Best Place.' Both of these people have found a way to impact their world, and improve conditions more than a thousand-fold by their efforts. Three cups of Tea has become required reading for the US Counterintelligence school at West point; I would hope this book gets added to the curriculum quickly.