The People at the End of the Road

It is not often we see a man so wholly, so unabashedly, and so passionately put his money where his mouth is. For Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and the newly released Stones into Schools, fulfilling a promise to an almost unknown people in the farthest reaches of the world has reverberated so deeply, it is now a daily part of his soul. For Mortenson and for the people he reaches in Pakistan and Afghanistan, education is not simply the obligatory next step, we Americans flippantly accept. Instead, for those whom everyone else has forgotten, education is life -- more than real shoes, decent food, increased industry or governmental assistance -- education is what they crave and need.

The thought makes my brow furrow and my mind race.

It is upon this building block that Mortenson, the CAI, and all the thousands of Afghani and Pakistani people clamoring for a school of their own, are hinging their future. It is with a deep-seated assurance that they know a better life is only possible with this possibility. Peace will reign, not with an increase in bombs but with books and education for girls as well as boys.

For the wife of a military man, this reality sinks in even as we increase the troops present in the war-torn region. I support that decision, but can't help but wonder if the military spent as much time teaching their children as rooting out their insurgents if we'd still have the chaos we see. Few people have inspired me as much as Greg Mortenson. It is with awe I realize how much is riding on his plan.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, understands the importance of what Greg Mortenson is doing as much as anyone. Even as he fights with weapons made of steel, he demonstrates the value of the weapon of education when he states, "The Muslim community is a subtle world we don't fully and don't always attempt to understand. Only through a shared appreciation of the people's culture, needs, and hopes for the future can we hope ourselves to supplant the extremist narrative. We cannot capture hearts and minds. We must engage them; we must listen to them, one heart and one mind at a time."