Dreams

I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Gary had read this book three years ago when we were in Mexico and I noticed it in his house last weekend. Being up in the mountains away from any of my usual activities is a good reason to nestle down with a satisfying book. Evver since I was a child I have loved escaping into the world of a book. I would creep into the hall from my bedroom and read by the nightlight until I was exhausted. Sometimes my mother would let me stay home from school the next day and I'd finish the book.
I spent much of the weekend immersed in the world of Greg Mortenson and his mission to create an education for girls in Pakistan. Greg dedicated his life to building schools for these girls after his failure to summit K2. On his way down he wandered disoriented into a nearby village where the Balti people befriended him and took care of him. The title of his book comes from a Balti saying: The first time you share tea with a Balti you are a stranger. The second time you take tea you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea you become family and for our family we are prepared to do anything, even die.
Greg Mortenson becomes an integral part of the family of the chief of the Balti village who helped nurture him back to health. Greg was a trauma nurse and as he healed he began to help others heal. The village was hours away from any medical care on foot and the villagers suffered from many medical conditions because of their difficult living conditions in mostly subzero temperatures. When he first saw that the children of the village sat on bare ground practicing lessons they had been given by a teacher who visited once a week he made a promise to come back and build a school. It took him over a year to raise the money. He had never done any fundraising before and didn't even know how to use a computer when he started. This book is the story of the challenges he faced and the opportunities that came his way fueled by the power of his dream. As time went on he could see that building schools especially for girls could generate change in an entire culture. The stories of the lives of these girls who began to believe in their own dreams as they became educated is inspiring and heartwarming. One girl after graduating from fifth grade secured the money to continue her education and had the dream to build a hospital in her village which she would administer. It certainly is possible that that hospital will exist someday soon. One of Greg Mortenson's favorite things to do was to listen to the dreams of these girls. Many local men couldn't understand why he would spend hours listening to these stories from girls. Greg knew that with encouragement and support coupled with the opportunity to learn, these girls could change their own way of life and help entire villages become more self-sustaining at a higher level of well-being. One thing he noticed was that things aren't what make people happy. Many of these people have nothing but the love and connection with their families and are very happy. He wanted to improve the lives of girls and provide schools for girls to study and grow. In most of the communities he eventually built schools in, girls had never gone to school at all. What moved me the most about this book was the power of one man's dream and the power of that dream to inspire others to follow their dream. Greg has writiten a new book called Stones into Schools. This new book is his continued journey building schools in Afghanastan, often in areas of strong Taliban influence. I am excited to read his new book. Greg Mortenson has been nominated for the nobel peace prize at least two times. He is definitely an angel of peace. I hope he wins this year. It makes me think how grateful I am to the people in my life who supported and encouraged my dreams. Also I feel a stronger committment to listen to and encourage the dreams of the people who share their dreams with me. It seems to me that no dream is impossible.
Who in your life supported you in dreaming your dreams? Who supports you now? Can you support yourself in spending a little time looking at what your dreams might be? One of my dreams is to share with people that their dreams are there waiting for them. However simple your dreams might be give yourself a little quiet time to dream them.