when the wrong road is the right road

Greg Mortenson took the wrong path while hiking down from his failed attempt to climb the Himalayan mountain K2, and it changed his life.

He was weak and ill because he had spent three days and all his strength to help rescue a fellow climber. After that effort, he realized he could not recover his strength enough to safely attempt to climb the summit. He decided to head back down to the town where he had set out from three months before.

During seven days of walking, he became separated from his porter. He missed the turn to civilization and instead found himself in a tiny remote village, the first foreigner ever to enter there.

The villagers welcomed him warmly, generously shared their meager food and shelter, and Greg began to recover his strength.

As he became stronger, he gave what he could to the villagers. He distributed the possessions from his pack, the nalgene bottles and flashlights, the camping stove, his warm clothing. But what was of most help to the villagers was Greg's nursing skills. He used the medical supplies he'd brought and his training as a trauma nurse to help with all manner of health problems among the villagers. He became known and is still known as "Dr Greg."

It was when he visited the village "school" that Greg Mortenson found the way he really could show his gratitude to the villagers for their kindness to him, and it has become his life's mission. He saw the children of the village meeting in the open air, sitting on the ground, copying their multiplication tables in the dirt with sticks. He saw their eager desire to learn and felt his "heart was being torn out."

That day Greg, who had only enough money to pay for his trip back to California, promised to return to the village and build a school.

Three Cups of Tea is the story of how Greg accomplished that. And of how in the process, he has been kidnapped, has received death threats, and even fatwas issued by angry mullahs. In spite of all this Greg has gathered the resources and found the people to build not only the school in the village of Korphe, but 178 schools in villages in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has also set up many schools in refugee camps.

This is the story of a determined man who has really given his heart to his project of helping people in remote areas whose own governments have neglected them. It's an exciting adventure as well as a heartwarming tale of sacrifice and work.

In the 16 years since he strayed off the trail, Greg's work has served 28,000 students and is still growing - this month he opened a new school in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was there, and so was Thomas Friedman. You can read about it here.

Greg's approach could be summed up by this bit of wisdom. "When your heart speaks, take good notes." As his heart has spoken, not only his life, but many others' as well, have been profoundly changed.

Three Cups of Tea is written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin and published by Penguin Books.