“Women are ultimately the key to development, they are the key to the eradication of poverty.  Once you empower them, you empower a nation.”  — Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate, Peace, 1984 

This is a true story.  An omen, perhaps.  When I woke up after an apparently restless sleep I saw that the book had toppled onto my laptop keyboard.  I had been reading Three Cups Of Tea by Greg Mortenson.¹  That the book landed on the keyboard during the night is no big deal.  What horrified me (sense the drama) is that the book landed with enough force to knock the “Z” out of place.²  

How does one cope without a “Z”?  I immediately felt fortunate that I am not a zoologist who studies zebras, or that my name is not Zach (although Zach is a very nice name) or that I do not live in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, although I hitchhiked there once and briefly enjoyed the lovely town . 

I was unable to snap the “Z” back into place because my eyesight is poor and my thumbs are too fat.  Fortunately, I happened to be visiting my parents at the time.  My Dad’s eyesight is worse than mine but he has a better grasp of details and “Z”s and was able to complete the repair in a few minutes.  Disaster averted. 

Then it occurred to me.  It’s not about the “Z”, Jeff!  (If I had a nickel for every time I’ve said that…)  It’s about the book!  Pay attention to the book, Jeff!  The broken “Z” was merely an attention-grabbing ruse.  Very sneaky.

“I will build a school…I promise”

Three Cups Of Tea is indeed a very cool book even though it is not about zebras or Zelienople.  The author Mortenson was a mountain climber who in late 1993 attempted to reach the summit of a mountain known as K2 in northern Pakistan.  After the attempt (which failed for a variety of reasons) and during his descent to find his base camp, Mortenson became separated from his team and his guide.  He spent several days alone in very cold, snowy conditions without food, and unsure of his location.  Nearly exhausted and very cold and hungry, he stumbled into the village Korphe where the kind people there saved his life.  They fed him and kept him warm until he regained his strength.  During his recovery he noticed that the children of the village had no school building and no teacher.  Every day they gathered on their own in an outdoor clearing to practice their lessons together.  Mortenson was moved by their dedication and he vowed to build them a school.

The rest of the book along with its follow-up, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan³ describe Mortenson’s incredible effort to make a long term difference for the people of Korphe and their neighbors.  He established a nonprofit organization in the United States called the Central Asia Institute (http://www.ikat.org) with a mission to “promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.”  As of 2009, the Central Asia Institute (CAI) has successfully established 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide (or have provided) education to over 58,000 students, with an emphasis on ensuring that girls are educated.  CAI’s emphasis on education for girls has led to some of their schools being targeted and destroyed by extremist groups in the region.

Community-based Development Is More Effective

In short, Mortenson believes that effective and lasting peace for the troubled region of Pakistan and Afghanistan will be accomplished not by the use of bombs and guns but through meaningful, community-based development, in particular through education for girls.  The story is not over, but it is already evident that CAI’s approach seems to be working.  Today, because of Mortenson’s success, our U.S. military has recruited him as a consultant on how to build better relationships with tribal leaders and village elders in that region.

Mortenson’s work is a practical example of what Nobel Laureate⁴ Amartya Sen has been trying to tell us for many years. Sen (born and raised in India) won the 1998 prize in Economics for his work on welfare economics with a particular interest in poverty and famine in developing nations⁵  In his 1999 book, Development As Freedom ⁶  Sen argues that “development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy” (p. 3).  For Sen, those freedoms extend beyond politics and voting to include economic and social opportunities.  He observes for example: “What begins as the neglect of the interests of women ends in causing adversity for the health and survival of all.”⁷  I suppose that’s not a popular idea among extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Bombs Or Schools Or Both?

Which brings us back to Mortenson and his effort to build schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The story continues, as more schools for girls are being built.  We will see whether Mortenson’s efforts actually bring peace and freedom to the region.  The change will be slow, but effective change is often slow.  Mortenson’s method (schools instead of bombs) will be criticized by the hawks among us.  Others might conclude that the most effective solution might be in the murky middle utilizing a lot of schools for girls along with a small number of well-place bombs.  The rest of us might say “enough with the bombs, let’s sink our money only into schools.” 

Hard to know for sure. We continue to follow Mortenson’s work to see what happens.  Amartya Sen might have something more to say about it.  I am thankful his name does not begin with a “Z”.   Zen…hmmm?⁸ 

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin (2006).  Three Cups Of Tea. New York: Penguin Books
2. I readily acknowledge that this is a senseless and bizarre introduction to this article.
3. Mortenson, Greg (2009).  Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Viking
4. For more articles about Nobel Laureates, see the category to the right.
5. David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
6. Sen, Amartya (1999).  Development As Freedom.  New York: Anchor Books.
7. David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
8. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen), Zen emphasizes the direct experiences resulting from meditation.  Zen (not Sen) de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor of direct, experiential realization through meditation and practice.  Either way, with Sen’s theoretical knowledge or Mortenson’s direct practice, it appears that development and freedom are intrinsically linked, whichever comes first.