Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson is an inspiring and sometimes hair-raising account of his efforts to build schools in northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan against all odds. Mortenson almost perished on the slopes of K2 after a failed attempt on the mountain. Lost, alone, and barely surviving a night exposed to the mountains’ fury, he stumbled into a remote village. In gratitude for the weeks of loving care these people gave him, nurturing him back to health, he promised to return and build a school for the village. “Three Cups of Tea” is the remarkable story of the struggle, dangers and eventual building of 55 schools (so far) to offer education, including for girls, in this impoverished part of the Muslim world. Mortenson’s schools offer a choice between a real education and the terrorist schools of the Taliban in this region. What better way to counter terrorism than to offer hope to the hopeless!