Stones into Schools
By Greg Mortensen (Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Darryl Tong)
There is a distinct advantage of not having read Three Cups of Tea prior to reviewing this book - the hype of a previous best seller cannot influence your judgement if you have not read it! Picking up from where Three Cups of Tea left off (the first cup of tea is shared as a stranger, the second cup is shared as a friend and the third cup as family), Stones into Schools is the second book from the former US Army medic and K-2 mountaineer turned philanthropist and gives a good appreciation of the cultural differences found in Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan from a well informed outsider's view.
A region of the world of great antiquity, Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan essentially still exists in a medieval feudal system where might is right and life is cheap. Women remain repressed and those with ambition and aptitude are harassed, bullied or threatened into submission by village elders. The ideals of education do not seem to extend to young girls and women who must live a life of domestic servitude to their husbands and families. And to think things were worse under the Taliban? This is by no means a judgemental statement: this is a fact of life and cultural differences, which may seem utterly foreign to us, are exactly that–differences in a culture foreign to our own.
The contrast between western affluence and the harshness of the regions between Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan is starkly portrayed, but rather than illustrating these differences with examples of “look how much wealth we have compared to you” the contrast is subtly delivered through different philosophical points of view. Take for example when Mortensen, having gained permission from the local elder to build a school, obtains enough sponsorship and funding to start construction but is then stopped and asked to build a bridge across the local river first. Mortensen does not understand at first and cringes at having to go cap in hand to ask for extra money from an already generous sponsor, until it is explained to him that the bridge is more than a physical structure providing access across a river to the school but it is also deeply symbolic, as a sign of hope for those who travel across it from one reality to a real future with education. Another gem that should be taken to heart by those about to deploy to Afghanistan is the notion that geographical boundaries are far less important than relationships–power rests in the forging of allegiances rather than physical location and is much more fluid and fickle depending on the wealth and weaponry of the power players.
Mortensen's journey begins in 1999 when he is approached by a group of AK47 wielding Kirghiz horsemen to come build a school in the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikstan. It is a cross between ancient feudalism and the gunslinging Wild West. The book becomes a 10-year journey for Mortensen who encounters local warlords, dodgy politicians, rural tribesmen and their communities and the might of the US military. The business of building schools in these areas requires passion, commitment, charisma and more than a little luck–things that Mortensen possesses and uses to his advantage in setting up schools under the auspices of the Central Asia Institute. It also helps to have a good man at your side and we are introduced to Sarfraz Khan, Mortensen's guide, fix-it man and driver. One cannot escape the image of a likeable rogue with dubious stories and a series of hard knocks in life to shape his character. Mortensen is a brave man in every sense, having been abducted in Waziristan in July 1996 for 8 days and released unharmed, he acquits himself well against local warlords and politicians alike but perhaps most admirable is his ability to work in with the US military without losing sight of his own objectives. It tells something if the man when a US Task Force commander emails him outlining his own hearts and minds projects with local schools and wonders of Mortensen and the Central Asia Institute can help out. By October 2009 approximately 36 schools have been established in the border region of Northern Pakistan and the Afghanistan and yes, the Kirghiz horsemen got their wish too with two schools being built in the Wakhan Corridor.
The refreshing absence of political undertone and agenda makes Mortensen a little different–no wonder his first book enjoyed such wide readership ranging from political notaries such as Bill Clinton and Colin Powell to military heavyweights like CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. Mortensen is obviously a man of action and his knowledge of the region and its people has seen him become an advisor to the US military and his first book is required reading for all counterinsurgency officers at the Pentagon. Stones into Schools may not be to everyone's liking but there is much that Mortensen can teach us in his dealings with local elders and tribes-folk.
Now to go get myself a copy of Three Cups of Tea...
LTCOL Tong is a Territorial Force officer and maxilo-facial surgeon. He deployed to Khandahar in Afghanistan last year.