Three Cups of Tea/Deceit
When does a little bit of corruption justify a whole lot of good?
Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea has been on my reading list (and on my shelf) for almost two years.
And now Jon Krakauer has published an e-book, Three Cups of Deceit that you can read on byliner.com. It’s free to download until tomorrow.
I finished reading it, and if Krakauer’s investigation is correct, it’s disheartening to all of us that work in the education realm of non-profits.
I’m slightly ashamed of myself that I put off reading what is supposedly a very inspirational book for two years, but then when the scandal broke about the book, I put down East of Eden and read this on a couple of lunch breaks.
If nothing else, it’s a call to non-profit leaders to be transparent, which should go without saying.
A quick google search on the topic and the comments following the commentaries will show you how divided people are on what has transpired. To some, Greg Mortenson is still the hero he’s always been. To others, he’s a con.
Back to the question at hand: When does a little bit of corruption justify a whole lot of good? Does it ever? What do you think?
I am pretty sure that one of our Yo Burrito lunches was when I told you you should read that book…
To the point…I hope that the expose against Mortenson turns out to be a witch hunt. I was inspired by the book. Maybe the Taliban story wasn’t true. Maybe the events in Korphe weren’t relayed accurately. I think the point was not about the specifics.
So I would not be too beat up if those turned out to be embellishments.
I will be very upset, however, if it turns out that he did not build schools with the money from CAI or if he has taken credit for schools that he did not build. I will also be very upset if it proves true that less than 65% of the funds that have been poured into CAI did not go towards the building of schools.
I hope it all turns out to be the media stirring up shit just to raise a stink. I will be chapfallen if it all turns out to be true though.
Hank: Not only was it our Yo Burrito lunch, you’re the one that gave me the book sitting on my shelf.
Ron Judd’s Seattle Times article asked the same question today. I like his thoughts on the question.
I read the book Three Cups of Tea several years ago. Just after I mayself had struggled to set up a charity in the Himalayan remote areas. I felt that his struggle with the locals was so similar to my own, although sometimes when reading I felt that he got through things just a little too easy.
I tried very hard not to be questioning. It was a very clever book but there was always something that was not quite right, but I just agreed with my friends and said it was remarkable although I found it hard to believe it all.
Over the last six years I have struggled in the area that I work and have found it hard to raise the type of funds that he did. There is a commercial world out there that I find it hard to join. The work I have done in the areas of Nepal where corruption in the norm has been hard. You see corruption all over in charity and it is probably easier to join it than not. But I have to say that if you are really passionate about what you believe in, and the work that you want to do then you will never let corruption come anywhere near that work. That is part of the fight in the world of charity.
I will never give up being honest and true to work that (charity name edited by admin) does.
Freda Casagrande
I believe in instincts. When I read “when does a little bit of corruption justify a whole lot of good”-my instinct is to wince. So I am an idealist. I want a Beautiful world. Reading the history books as a child and then later as an adult-I was left with very few hero’s. Great men with a little bit of corruption.
It is my issue wanting to find a Hero. Writing this made me think of Heros in my own life. They are people that cling to hope. So I will cling to hope. Hope that our imperfect heros have still left a legacy because Beauty remains-a school. And I hope that our imperfect heros have loved ones that will stand by them. To me the most beautiful legacy that a man can leave will be a love that reflects in the face of his children. May we all leave some Beauty and hopefully a legacy of love.
S: The “people that cling to hope.” A good definition of a hero. Thanks for that.
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