Welcome to THE NORTH COLUMBIA MONTHLY

A Good Read
February 2008

Three Cups of Tea
reviewed by Susanne Griepp

The book, Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is spellbinding! It’s a riveting story of a wrong turn that completely redefines a man’s life. One doesn’t expect that a guy who lives in his old Buick, Mortenson, a 35-year-old nurse whose passion is climbing distant mountains, could transform some of the most remote, poor pockets of the world. But he does and he’s still at it.

He intended to honor the memory of his youngest sister by leaving her necklace on one climb to K2’s summit at 28,267 feet. But he failed. Instead, he got lost in the treacherous Pakistani landscape and stumbled, not far from death himself, into a village perched on a sheer cliff. The people of Korphe fed and healed him. He saw how poor they were, with sick people in many homes. He returned their healing favor by using his nursing skills, offering medicines and belongings in his pack.

One morning he was surprised to see all the town’s children kneeling on frosty ground in the open, practicing school lessons in the dirt without a teacher. According to the town leader, corruption and neglect siphoned off what little government money was intended for the people of Baltistan. Not even a dollar a day for a teacher made it to this remote region. Everything about these peoples’ lives was a struggle, which reminded Mortenson of his sister’s life. After coming halfway around the world to put her necklace on K2’s summit, Greg was so moved by the children’s desire to learn, despite everything stacked against them that he came up with a more meaningful gesture to honor his sister‘s memory. He promised to build these people a school. He was unaware that with this promise, his life made a detour onto a route far more difficult than climbing K2.

This book’s award-winning writer David Oliver Relin, crafts a truly remarkable story with immense meaning and timing about an extraordinary humanitarian. His photographic descriptions of people, places, and their characteristics, put the reader in the truck, in the dusty hotel room and villagers‘ huts. This story strikes that instinctual chord in each of us that knows our survival depends on creating and nurturing human understanding and cooperation, building bridges to health, education, peace and self-sufficiency. Greg Mortenson could be the guy living next door, but his unusually strong will and determination, his personal sacrifices to make good on his promises, despite seemingly insurmountable challenges, go well beyond the norm.

Ignorance and desperation can be fierce enemies. Greg is in the business of educating girls in desperate and isolated regions where Islamic fundamentalism pours its resources into madrassas, “schools” where the Taliban sprung forth with their ‘’undamental Islamacism.” His ongoing work is peacemaking in its highest form.

This book so inspired me that I’m writing this review since the authors suggested it as a way to help. Wholeheartedly, I encourage you to buy and read this book and then spread the word yourself. Buy your copy or copies (I received mine as a gift) through the website www.threecupsoftea.com, and 7 percent of all your book purchases will go toward a girls’ education scholarship fund in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Three Cups of Tea Author Here in March

Libraries of Stevens County is pleased to present One Book, One County, a county-wide reading program featuring New York Times Bestseller Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. During the month of February, readers across the county are encouraged to read Three Cups of Tea, and discuss the book with other Stevens County readers. Two free evening programs will feature a presentation and book signing by author David Oliver Relin – March 11 at 7 p.m. in Colville at the Rendezvous Theater and March 12 at 7 p.m. in Nine Mile Falls at Lakeside Middle School.

The central theme of Three Cups of Tea is derived from a Baltistan proverb – “The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger,” a villager tells Greg Mortenson. “The second time, you are an honored guest. The third time you become family.” [See review on page 14.]

One Book One County is the first program of its kind presented by Libraries of Stevens County. A grant from the Washington State Library and the Institute of Museum and Library Services made it possible to fund the inaugural reading program. Libraries of Stevens County Director Amanda McKeraghan believes a county-wide reading program is the perfect way to begin 2008. “When the whole community, or the whole county in our case, reads the same book, it means we all have something in common that can bring us together. Imagine standing in line at the store and seeing someone with the same book you’ve just read. You suddenly have something to talk about and share.”

Libraries of Stevens County is proud to bring author David Oliver Relin to the area. Relin will present a slide show and discuss the book, as well as answer questions from the audience. Both programs are free and open to the public. A book signing will follow the presentation. Relin is an award winning journalist and editor, and is currently working on a novel. In addition to his evening presentations, Relin will be meeting with many area junior and senior high school students to share his work and life experiences.

Copies of the book Three Cups of Tea are available at your Stevens County branch libraries. The book is available in large print, as well as on CD. To reserve a copy of the book, call your local library or 1-877-251-3300. Information is also available at www.scrld.org. Join the One Book, One County experience and read Three Cups of Tea this February!

The North Columbia Monthly provides news, views, humor and a calendar of events for an area that stretches from Nelson in British Columbia south to Spokane in Washington State and covers all points in between. A free (and free-thinking, progressive) magazine, The Monthly is available at several hundred spots throughout the region and now is also available on-line at www.ncmonthly.com. Published once a month since 1994, The Monthly is an independent magazine that often challenges contemporary wisdom by encouraging critical thinking about issues and attitudes in the region and beyond.

Featuring our one-of-a-kind "What's Happening" department, The Monthly provides the region's only all-inclusive, free listing of community events and is the first place many people check to find out about area arts, crafts, music, fairs, services and events of all kinds. Our open listing policy for the "What's Happening" department promotes diversity, cultural interaction, and the exchange of ideas and free expression. Also featured in the magazine are people, food, health, humor, and feature articles that keep readers coming back for more each month.

We can be reached by mail at The North Columbia Monthly, PO Box 541, Colville, WA 99114; by phone or fax at 509-684-3109; by email at editor@ncmonthly.com; and on the Web at www.ncmonthly.com.

©2008. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the contents or use in whole or part without written permission from the publishers is strictly prohibited. Views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publishers.