Three Cups of Tea

I woke up this morning excited to go to The CBS Washington Bureau to watch the taping of “Face the Nation” and meet Greg Mortenson, the author of Three Cups of Tea. Also scheduled to be on the program was General Odierno and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

We had a rough start before arriving at the Bureau due to a Metro delay, but a taxi was there to save the day. We were greeted at the door and escorted to the control room, where we had previously watched the filming of “Washington Unplugged.” Bob and Greg meet us there shortly after and we all go into the green room to discuss the show. Greg seemed nervous and shy, which was disappointing because we all had so many questions to ask him.

The day moved by quickly. It seemed like only 30 seconds went by before we had to be taken back into the control room so Bob and Greg could go onto the set. As we all sat in the control room, the director and producer of “Face the Nation” spoke with us briefly about what they did and how it all worked together to complete the show.

As the show began, the director and producer were screaming and yelling. For the entire duration of the show, the control room was incredibly stressful. However, after the show had finished things calmed down and we got to visit the set and talk to Bob and Greg. Greg’s book is about how he ended up finding his meaning in life after almost dying while trying to climb K2. Some villagers in Pakistan saved his life and nursed him back to health. Greg was so grateful to these people that he decided to help build a school.

Since then he has built more than 150 schools. The majority of the children that attend these schools are girls, which is extremely interesting considering how different the culture is. When we had a chance to speak with Greg he told us that many people he has come into contact with have actually become more accepting of girls going to school and that he even hears success stories. For example, one young girl graduated high school and for $800 received pre-natal and post-natal training. After she returned to the village where she grew up, she used her training to help completely eliminate the number of deaths related to childbirth.

Greg left shortly after finishing the story and before we had a chance to ask him questions. I wanted to ask him more about how he got the people residing in the village to become accepting of sending their girls to school. I also wanted to ask him more about the feedback that he gets from the children that have graduated.

Bob then talked with us briefly about the episode and how The White House had called earlier and asked him not to show an interview that he had previously recorded. This clearly showed what powerful parties come into battle when public image is concerned.