Stones into Schools Book Review

Stones into Schools is a must read book!  Greg Mortenson’s exciting and heart felt story about how he is promoting peace with books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a story for all ages!  I was inspired by the many sacrifices Greg and his team make on a daily basis to help educate children in some of the most remote places in the world. 

Education is something  so many of us take for granted, while these children and families go to all lengths to study.  Children huddle together outside in the cold, in makeshift shelters, and in some of the most difficult situations and locations.  Greg shares the details of some of his most dangerous ventures and heroic tales of children.

It’s critical that we all understand the educational plight of people globally and also the direct relationship that educating girls specifically has on promoting peace and increased prosperity in the world.  Greg points out that there are still 120 million school age children in the world who are deprived of their right of education!!

I love the action steps that Greg Mortenson suggests, so if you don’t have a chance to read the book, consider taking action!

• Buy Stones into Schools Today!
• Visit http://www.stonesintoschools.com for more information or the Central Asia Institute (the non-profit Greg started that funds the schools and girls education scholarships)
• Suggest the book to a friend, library, bookstore, group, etc..
• Help your school start a Pennies for Peace project.  Since 1994, more than 200 million pennies have been raised through this program!
• Make a contribution to the Central Asia Institute.  It only costs $1 per month for one child’s education in Pakistan or Afghanistan, a penny to buy a pencil, and a teacher’s salary averages $1.50 a day.

Give Big! October Charity of the Month is Pennies for Peace

How can you make a tremendous impact on world peace, education, and girls?  Donate to Pennies for Peace or the Central Asia Institute, both of which are helping to promote education and literacy, especially for girls.  If you don’t want to read my whole blog post, then trust me on this, and find a way to give to this organization which is building schools and doing more for peace in our world than we could ever imagine!  It only costs $1 per month for one child’s education in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and only a penny to buy a pencil.

Recently I read, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.  I had been wanting to read this for sometime, but it wasn’t until I found out my kids school was integrating this book into a service learning project that it made it’s way off the bookshelf.  Once I started reading Greg’s story, I was totally and completely inspired on so many levels. 

Basically, Greg had been an avid and expert climber in one part of his life.  During a near death experience on K2 he drfited into a tiny village in the Karakoram mountains in Pakistan.  He was so touched by how they helped him and by how little the children had, he promised to return and build a school.  I was deeply touched by many aspects of Greg’s story:  from his description of his own journey, the hundreds of roadblocks he overcame, and his ability to be a peacemaker during these very tenuous times. 

He now has built over 55 schools, especially for girls.  Much of the area Greg has been building schools with his organization has been an area where the Taliban has recruited young people.  Greg Mortenson is an unsung hero in many ways and I can see how he is doing more for World Peace than most of us can imagine.   You won’t be disappointed by reading Three Cups of Tea  and I hope it inpspires you to donate a penny or two, or three, or more to this incredible mission!