friday. listen to the wind.

recently, greg mortenson visited gonzaga university here in town to talk about his travels, writings, and life's work. i wasn't able to attend (as it was sold out almost immediately), but it made me think about his books again!

about a year ago, i read three cups of tea, by greg mortenson. this book deserves a post all to its own. needless to say, it made me question how i live my life, the perspective i have on the world, and whether i benefit society in a way that actually means anything. profound? absolutely. but so relevant to a situation we hear about daily on the news and go about our daily lives. if you haven't read it, go buy it. even if you aren't interested, you will be by the second chapter.

but, i digress. shortly after reading three cups of tea, i spent weeks looking for something similar (check out his second book, stones into schools) and ran across a kid's variation of the story. i went and checked it out at the library to read to my 6-year old. the story is wonderfully re-told in a way to help kids understand so much more about the world outside their own—while relating to a subject so incredibly relevant to our children today. it's a beautiful mosaic-collage picture book, with references and information in the back with pictures of the schools mortenson has built, and the trials he's gone through to get there.

just a quick summary for those that haven't heard anything about it:

greg mortenson stumbled, lost and delirious, into a remote himalayan village, korphe, after a failed climb up K2. the villagers saved his life, and he vowed to return and build them a school. the remarkable story of his promise kept is told in the voice of korphe's children. this story illuminates the humanity and culture of a relevant and distant part of the world in gorgeous collage, while sharing a riveting example of how one person can change thousands of lives.

an example, here is a list of schools mortenson and his foundation have built. truly amazing.