Author dodges bullets to build schools in war zone

Greg Mortenson builds schools halfway around the world, but Chicago's suburbs play a vital role in his work.

Mortenson has the key to the city of Naperville, and works with schools in Bartlett, Des Plaines, Elk Grove and all over the suburbs to raise money for his cause.

This week, Mortenson comes to Rosemont for a $150-a-plate gala with NBC-5 news anchor Rob Stafford and America Ferrera from ABC's "Ugly Betty."

Mortenson is an author and Nobel Prize-nominated humanitarian whose mission is to build schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mortenson's best-selling "Three Cups of Tea" told how, in 1993, Mortenson was a mountain climber who vowed to scale K2, one of the most difficult peaks in the world, in memory of his sister, who died of an epileptic seizure.

Unable to reach the summit, Mortenson barely managed to get back to a Pakistani village, where the people nursed him back to health. Seeing girls there drawing with sticks on the ground for lack of a teacher, Mortenson vowed to build a school for them.

He eventually raised enough money to do so, and made it his life's work to bring schools to the area.

His new book, "Stones Into Schools," picks up the story with his ventures into Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. He was kidnapped by the Taliban for eight days, and once hid from a firefight in putrid animal skins.

Despite such obstacles, Mortenson and his Central Asia Institute, based in Chicago, have built 131 schools.

Pennies for Peace raises funds from American schoolchildren which help pay for school supplies halfway around the world.

Mortenson's books have become required reading among top military brass, and the former Army medic has spoken to troops at all the military academies.

His lessons, Gen. David Petraeus has said, are to build relationships, listen to the local people and approach them with respect and humility.

"Our top priority is not fighting terrorism," Mortenson said, "but to promote peace. The real enemy we face is ignorance, and ignorance breeds hatred. The solution is education."

Mortenson got the key to Naperville a few years ago when his book was chosen as part of a citywide reading program.

He looks forward to seeing old friends when he visits Saturday to emphasize the need for education for women who won't otherwise get it.

"There's an African proverb," he said. "If you educate a boy, you educate an individual, but if you educate a girl you educate a community."

<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p>

<p class="News"><b>Who:</b> Greg Mortenson, author of the best-selling "Three Cups of Tea" and Nobel Prize nominee, with NBC's Rob Stafford and America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty"</p>

<p class="News"><b>What:</b> Fundraiser for Central Asia Institute, which builds schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan</p>

<p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Hyatt Regency O'Hare, 9300 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Rosemont</p>

<p class="News"><b>When:</b> 6:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 3</p>

<p class="News"><b>Donation: </b>$150</p>

<p class="News"><b>Information:</b> (630) 999-2099 or <a href="http://ikat.org" target="new">ikat.org</a>; e-mail <a href="mailto:sadia@ikat.org">sadia@ikat.org</a></p>