Screenwriting and Three Cups of Tea

“When your heart speaks, take good notes.”
Judith Campbell

You’re going to think I’m making this up…and I won’t blame you.

But I’m going to tell you about how one screenwriter had a part in making the world a better place.

Here’s what happened. A friend in Florida sent me a message on Facebook asking if I was going to hear Greg Mortenson speak in Cedar Falls Thursday, February 12. Who? With a few clicks I realize that he’s the co-author of Three Cups of Tea which was a #1 New York Times bestseller and has sold over one million copies. I know of the book,  but I haven’t read it.

Greg was an avid mountain climber when he was younger  and now helps build schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, so his story sounded interesting and I went to hear him speak last night. I showed up at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the UNI campus a little late and found the place packed. (Apparently this is common wherever he speaks.)  Out of 1,500 seats I only counted seven open seats. And this is my abridged version of Greg’s story.

Once upon a time…before Greg Mortenson was born his mother and father went to the Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls (which is now the University of Northern Iowa where the talk was given last night). They got married, had children and did missionary and educational work in Africa. When Greg was 12 he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. The family would later settle in Minnesota. Craig’s sister Christa was epileptic and for her 23rd birthday in 1992 she wanted to take a trip to Iowa to see the “field of dreams” in Dyersville where her favorite movie was shot.

Though the movie  Field of Dreams still has a strong following today this was just a few years after the 1989 release. (In fact, the Field of Dreams Movie Site still draws over 50,000 tourists a year. An ESPN article called A little piece of heaven still exists quoted one visitor to the field as saying, “There’s something magical about this place.” )

But on the morning they were to leave on the trip Christa’s mother found that she had died in the night. As a way to honor the memory of  his sister Greg decided to climb K2 the second largest mountain in the world.  He trained hard for the journey. He planned to leave Christa’s necklace at the summit. But he failed. He didn’t make it to the top. Exhausted after a 50 plus day journey he became disoriented and “wandered away from his group.” He ended up in the small village of Korphe in Pakestain where the town people helped him recuperate.

Though he hadn’t had a bath in 84 days he was greeted and welcomed. During his stay he learned that the kids had sticks instead of pencils and in general as tradition the women were not educated. He learned that there was not a full time teacher there because the village does not have the dollar a day to pay a teacher.

So Greg decided to take it upon himself to raise money for a school and after sending out over 500 fundraising letters he had a total of $100 in donations—not enough to cover postage. But he was persistant and continued in his quest until the concept of raising pennies for pencils gains momentum in schools and library’s throughout the land.

To make  along story short today Greg has helped establish over 80 schools providing education to over 28,000 children including 18,000 girls who are not normally educated in this region. And while the Taliban continues to destroy schools (over 400 last year) Greg is doing his part to build school and promote peace. To learn more about Greg and his work visit the Three Cups of Tea website.

“Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world .“
Tom Brokaw

“I did not find a field of dreams in a cornfield in Iowa or at the top of K2. I found my field of dreams in Korphe, an impoverished village in Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya.”
Greg Mortenson

Perhaps Greg would have done all that he had done without if his sister hadn’t have seen the movie Field of Dreams. But I love how the Phil Alden Robinson screenplay wrote (based on W.P. Kinsella book) and the movie Robinson made are a part of Three Cups of Tea and a movement that has been a part of making the world a better place.

To paraphrase a client I have, “We’re not saving lives, we’re entertaining people.” But every once in a while…..

copyright 2009 Scott W. Smith