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Eyes Wide Open (EWO) #2: Books Not Bombs
By gartenfische | September 19, 2007
My offerings for this week*:
What’s really been on my mind, besides medical care, is education.
This is SO on my mind because I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Amazing. You’ve got to read this book. Not for the literary style—in fact, you may find that lacking (ugh, who am I to judge, just look at this paragraph!). You will find this book, about Mortenson’s work to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, emotional and wonderfully hope-full. There is a way to counter terrorism that makes sense and is non-violent. (But it’s not shock and awe, in and out—it requires long term commitment.)
Mortenson, who co-founded the Central Asia Institute, is especially dedicated to girls’ education:
Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities, but the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.
He understands the importance of giving children in these regions an educational choice aside from the madrassas that Saudi Arabia has been building all over rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some of the madrassas are hard-core fundamentalist, essentially guiding children toward terrorism. As Vali Nasr says, “So if regular schooling is not schooling people, and schools that propagate fanaticism are schooling people, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out what would be the impact on society.”
Mortenson’s schools are not, however, American-indoctrination institutions—he is sensible enough to understand that’s not what these kids need, and not what the families want. But he does believe there is tangible value in education as a tool for peace:
If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else, then we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not bombs.
Amen.
When I looked at Charity Navigator, I was disappointed that CAI seems less streamlined than it must have been a few years ago, when nearly all the money went directly to build schools, pay teachers, etc. Maybe I’ll e-mail them and ask why. Also, according to the BBB charity rating site, they are not the most accountable organization (which you will get a feel for if you read the book). But if they are turning thousands of children away from potential lives of violence and toward peace, then don’t we all owe them a great deal of gratitude (and maybe money)?
Then I came across Hand in Hand, which supports Jewish-Arab education in Israel. Hand in Hand “was founded to build peace between Jews and Arabs in Israel through development of bilingual and multi-cultural schools.” What a concept: Put the children together, let them come to know one another, and maybe they won’t grow up with hatred brimming in their hearts. This seems like a particularly meaningful effort.
Which reminds me of: Promises. This is a beautiful documentary about Israeli and Palestinian children who get to know one another. It’s incredible; you’ve got to watch it if you get a chance. I know my library has it, so that might be an option for you. It’s also available at Amazon.
Which reminds me of this article in the Christian Science Monitor about “dialogue clubs” in Rwanda. It’s hard to hate people you’ve talked with one on one. If Tutsis can talk to Hutus, why can’t Christians talk to Muslims (and vise versa)? Isn’t it more difficult to harden your heart when you’ve spent time in the presence of the other’s humanity?
You’ve just got to read Three Cups of Tea. Please. Then let me know what you think. Better yet, blog about it! (Here’s the Amazon link, just in case.)
Also, check out last week’s EWO for links to two great organizations, CARE and Asha, helping to educate the world’s underprivileged children.
What we are trying to do may be just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.
-Mother Teresa, in Three Cups of Tea
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*As I said last week, I want to witness to the human condition in the world. However, I don’t want people to stop visiting my site because it’s always, always bad news. Let me know if you think I’ve crossed over that line for you at any time. I have also decided it won’t be EWO Wednesday, I’ll just do it when it feels appropriate. I don’t know what I was thinking—it’s hard for me to keep to timetables like that. (Next thing you know, I’d have every day of the week mapped out and then I’d hate my blog.)
September 19th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
egads, gartenfische, you’re so depressing!
only kidding!
I think people need to know what goes on in the world, but also that there are organizations, groups, etc. that we can donate to or work with to effect change in the world. in that way, we know that there is always hope!
we have to be the change.
interesting what you say about “dialogue clubs” because I remember a time back in the day when the old hippie-dippie coffee shops used to serve as a venue for that…and I miss that.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Linda, yeah, I agree that there is hope. There has to be!
We need dialog clubs all over the place, don’t we?
September 19th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Gartenfische - thanks for this. I do want to read that book.
I love what you say about education and about dialog.
Having spent time in Israel and in Jordan.. I did a Jordan travelogue before you were a visitor to the blog - I have an interest in that area specifically.
I can’t write more- off to my first yoga class in ages.
You two have inspired me! YOu and Linda!
September 19th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
I loved “Three Cups of Tea.” I was struck by how incredibly fearless the author was. I would love to be fearless.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
very cool, fran! now you can start a snarky yoga blog — tee hee!
September 20th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Fran, glad you went to a yoga class. I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll have to look for your Jordan travelogue.
YM, oh yeah, I was blown away by that guy. Fearless is the word!
September 21st, 2007 at 2:54 am
Gartenfische- the post is really about the Petra part of my trip… funny how we remember things, I thought it was the whole thing. Anyway the link is
here if you wish.
Linda- you make me laugh, Fran’s Yoga Snark!
Anyway class was great and in my heart I brought you guys with me.
It struck me how much I need it and how easy it is to ignore such deep yearning.
Namaste
September 21st, 2007 at 7:33 am
You are too funny. I picked up this book for my in-flight reading and, at the last minute, put it back and got “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” because I decided I needed the escape more. But I’ll go get this one if you go get that one… :) Book report!
September 21st, 2007 at 7:34 am
And bad news is depressing when it’s delivered without hope, and your site never does that. No worries.
September 21st, 2007 at 10:00 am
Fran, I’ll check that out this afternoon (have to go do yoga soon!). Petra seems so mysterious and beautiful. I would love to visit.
Yoga, yoga!! It’s so gooood for you!
Heather, I just ordered up Snow Flower from the library. I was wondering if Lisa See is related to Carolyn See, so looked that up, and she is her daughter. I loved Carolyn See’s Making History.
I agree about bad news and hope. Because I DO feel hopeful, I always want to imbue my sad news writings with hope.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:58 pm
gartenfische,
If you care to, go back to my July archives where I blogged about 3 Cups of Tea. I loved it, though I agree that the writing style was not great. But what a story! I also loved Mountain Beyond Mountains about Paul Farmer’s work in Haiti. It’s written by Tracy Kidder, who is a very good writer, if that matters to you. This summer I met a woman who dropped everything after the ‘04 elections and moved to VietNam. yesterday I received an email from her telling me that her work is inspired by the two aforementioned books.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Suzy, yeah, I’ll look at your post about the book. I also requested Mountains Beyond Mountains from the library. Thanks for the recommendation!
Maybe you’ll blog about your friend in Vietnam and her experiences?