Builder of hope
Son of ex-PL woman turns his school-building experiences in Pakistan, Afghanistan into book
After a failed attempt to climb K2, a famous peak in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan in 1993, Greg Mortenson was nursed back to health in an impoverished Pakistani village.
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He then made an impulsive promise to the people of the village - that he would return and build a school for the more than 80 children who were scratching out multiplication tables with sticks in the dirt.
Mortenson not only returned and built that school, but in the past 14 years has helped build 61 other schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
His book about his experiences, "Three Cups of Tea," co-authored by David Oliver Relin, is in its 39th week on the New York Times bestseller list.
On Monday night, a packed audience filled Trinity Lutheran Church in Brainerd to hear Mortenson's mother, Jerene Mortenson, talk about her son's work in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The program was sponsored by the Brainerd branch of the American Association of University Women.
Jerene Mortenson grew up in Pequot Lakes. Her late father is former teacher, coach and principal Al Doerring. Her late husband, Dempsey Mortenson, also grew up in Pequot Lakes and they were married there. When her son Greg was three months old, the Mortensons became Lutheran missionaries in Africa, where they lived until Greg was 13.
The success of her son's book has also meant that the Central Asia Institute, which Greg Mortenson co-founded, has been overwhelmed with donations to build more schools, which are built particularly for girls. Jerene Mortenson said Monday that with the money raised this year from the book's success they will be able to built at least 10 more schools next year. The average cost of a school in Pakistan and Afghanistan is about $20,000, including a teacher and supplies, said Mortenson.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
Mortenson showed slides of photographs that her son has taken and explained how he, through trial and error, was able to build his first school in the village of Korphe. When she was a principal at an elementary school in River Falls, Wis., her students raised money for the school and Greg's work by collecting pennies.
This has developed into Pennies for Peace, a program of the Central Asia Institute where children raise funds to help build schools. Mortenson said schoolchildren in 600 American schools have raised more than $100,000.
Before Mortenson's presentation, the choral ensemble From Age to Age performed. The group is comprised of singers of all ages from across Minnesota and whose mission is to raise funds for regional, national and global projects that promote lasting and sustainable change. The group presented Mortenson with a check for $500, proceeds from a recent concert.
For more information about the book, "Three Cups of Tea," visit www.threecupsoftea.com, or the Central Asia Institute at www.ikat.org, or Pennies for Peace, visit www.penniesforpeace.org.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.