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*Photos courtesy of Greg Mortenson*Keith McCord Reporting
This next story is about a man trying to make the world a better place, one school at a time. He came up with the idea more than a decade ago, when he almost died. He made a promise back then and he's kept it.
K-2, the world's second tallest mountain, straddles the border of China and Pakistan. In 1993 Greg Mortensen tried to climb it; he spent 78 days there, but fell short. Coming back down, he went the wrong way on a trail, a move that would change his life forever.
Greg Mortsenson, Exec. Dir., Central Asia Institute: "I took a wrong turn, stumbled into a local village where the people befriended me and helped nurse me back to health."
The village was in a remote area of northern Pakistan. While he was there, he asked if there was a school.
Greg Mortsenson: "And they took me up behind the village in a dusty field, where I saw 84 children sitting in the dirt doing their school lessons, five girls and 79 boys just writing with sticks in the sand."
Greg learned that in this region, actual school buildings are few and far between, as are books and teachers. Children are often taught outdoors.
Greg Mortsenson: "That really struck me and I had this 'Eureka' moment. And perhaps I made a rash promise that day that I would help them build a school." Exec. Dir. Central Asia Institute
And he delivered! In the past 13-years, Greg has organized the construction of 55 schools, which are now attended by more than 24-thousand children. These schools, which have between five and 10 rooms, are scattered throughout both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some are located in near war zones and where extremist groups operate.
Greg hopes his story will motivate other groups and governments to use the power of education to make the world a safer place.
Greg Mortsenson: "The war on terror has become very costly and we don't have a game plan. And I think that focusing on education and putting a priority on education could provide some solutions that we're grappling with right now."
Greg's certainly not stopping; more schools are under construction. He's written a book about his school-building project. It's already #14 on the New York Times Best Seller list. He's on a national tour to promote his book and he spoke at the Salt Lake City Library tonight.
