Three Cups of What?

I have had several people recommend the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I got a copy of the book from my church's library, but since I was a student full time this past year I have not had time to read it until now. I had heard some talk about the truthfulness of the book’s accounts of Mortenson’s experiences in Pakistan and I was hesitant to start reading. However, I went ahead and started reading before I fully explored the charges that have been made against the authors. After reading a few chapters and deciding for myself that the story is interesting and worth reading, I started researching the claims against the book.

The charges were made by the CBS program 60 Minutes. Their reporters have interviewed individuals who were present with Mortenson when he was in Pakistan and they claim that the story has some significant mis-truths. More troubling was the finding that there does not seem to be a clear accounting for the funds given to the charity that Mortenson founded. Certainly, I am bothered when someone presents a book of fiction as non-fiction. That is a big problem. Then to think that the book has prompted generous people to give to a charity that is possibly corrupt is an even bigger problem. This book that has been on my shelf for over a year, just waiting to be read, may have to stay on the shelf. The sad part about this tale is that from what I can ascertain, there is a compelling story to be told about the people living in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The children living in these countries desperately need educational assistance and obviously many people would want to help.

So why not tell the truth from the beginning? Mortenson does not need to be presented as a hero to tell a compelling story. And if Mortenson had witnessed the poor living conditions of the people and the lack of educational opportunities for the children, then how could he not want to help them and direct all charitable donations to these people? Three Cups of Tea seems to be more like Three Cups of Wasted Opportunities.