My Cup Runneth Over

I went with my friends Joannah, Ali (their children) and our friend Inge who was visiting from Holland to hear Greg Mortenson speak at BSU. He's the author who wrote Three Cups of Tea, a book that's been on the best seller list for something like 97 weeks straight.

In short, his attempt to summit K-2 failed just short of the top. He nearly froze to death, was seperated from his team and wandered into a remote village in Northern Pakistan. While the villagers nursed him back to health, he fell in love with the people and found his calling. He left with a mission to come back and build the children a school-- a real school. The children were doing their lessons with sticks in the dirt.

That was something like 15 years ago. He has since built 70-something schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan-- and many of them girls schools (something unheard of in the past). (Read the book-- it will inspire you).

Anyway, it was a real treat to hear him speak. Two of my girls have spent the past month, along with their schoolmates raising money for Mortenson's Pennies for Peace program. I even helped out with drumming up a bit of media coverage. We're hoping to do this every year. It was a great experience for the kids and a little brain food for this mom.