Humanitarian Greg Mortenson Addresses President’s Convocation
September 9, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Education is more than a way to better an individual, it is a path to peace, said humanitarian Greg Mortenson in his address at the President’s Convocation at Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday.
Hear excerpts: Clip 1 | Clip 2
Mortenson is the executive director of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), which works to provide education and promote literacy for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to Mortenson, many people ask if his work building schools and training teachers is about combating terrorism and the Taliban, but he answers that his mission is peace. “Promoting terrorism is really about fear, but promoting peace is based in hope. And the real enemy that we all face is ignorance. Ignorance breeds hatred.”
Since 1996, Mortenson and the CAI have constructed more than 400 schools in impoverished rural areas. He detailed his work in the New York Times bestselling book Three Cups of Tea. The book, which has sold 3 million copies and has been published in 34 countries, was chosen for the 2009 Summer Reading Program for all incoming Illinois Wesleyan first-year students to read and discuss.