This one should be at the top of your list. It's a true story, amazingly enough, about the way faith, perseverance, and grass roots education, will change the tide of war and bring peace to the middle east. I'm not going to lie - it's not an easy book to read. Having never been to Pakistan myself, I found it hard remembering names and places as the book progressed. But it is an absolutely profound testimony to the truth that the secret to success lies in the home. As one man with a vision, Greg Mortenson, realized that by providing education to children in poverty stricken villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan he could change war torn nations from the ground up, he stopped at nothing to bring that idea to reality. Instead of going to extremist madrassa schools because they had no where else to go, and then joining the Taliban because they had no other means of supporting their families, children could get educations in their own villages in the schools this man built and then build lives without the Taliban. His story is miraculous. His efforts seem unprecedented. I wouldn't be surprised if he won the Nobel Peace Prize someday.
This book did three things for me.
1) It took me to a new place. It's easy to get stuck where you are in the routine of life. I have often wished I could go back to Africa for a few weeks and relive the life I had there. This book submerges you in climate and culture you have never experienced before.
2) It taught me about a religion that I had a completely skewed view of - Islam. I sat here looking through my "American Glasses" at the burning twin towers hating Muslims. I was wrong. I thought they all had the same beliefs, but this book helped me to learn that the fundamentals of Islam are very similar to the things I believe as a Christian and a Latter-Day Saint. Obviously they don't believe in Christ and He is the center of everything I hold dear, but they do believe in God, in peace, in charity, and in all of the other Christ-like attributes that we strive to develop in ourselves. Because of 9/11 and some other events, we weren't allowed to proselytize to Muslims while I was in Africa for safety reasons. Naturally I developed a fear of a people I knew nothing about. This book changed that.
3) It taught me about the power of education. Especially educating women. If you educate a man you create a breadwinner. Someone who can provide for a family. If you educate a woman you create a whole offspring of potential breadwinners. Now I know that situations are different in every family - they were definitely different in mine growing up - but as a whole, especially in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan - the woman stayed home and raised the family and if she was educated she could pass that on to her children. Our rolls as women are important - VITAL even to society as a whole. That couldn't have been more emphasised in our General Relief Society meeting last week. As we catch the vision that a loving Father in Heaven would have us see, we realize that we as women really are the source of power and "Relief" to save the world one family at a time.
If you've read it - post your thoughts on it in the comments section.
If you haven't read it - READ IT.
Now - - who wants to go build a school with me?
