Quotes from Three Cups of Tea

I am really loving this book called Three Cups of Tea by David Relin and Greg Mortenson. Greg Mortenson is a humanitarian who's mission is "promote peace...one school at time" in the poverty stricken villages of Pakistan.

Here are some quotes
on education:
"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls."

on war:
"In times of war, you often hear leaders-Christian, Jewish, and Muslim-saying, 'God is on our side.' But that isn't true. In war, God is on the side of the refugees, widows, and orphans."

speech given by village leader after 9/11 (i love this):
"It is by fate that Allah the Almighty has brought us together in this hour. Today is a day that you children will remember forever and tell your children and grandchildren. Today, from the darkness of illiteracy, the light of education shines bright. We share in the sorrow as people weep and suffer in America today...Those who have committed this evil act against the innocent, the women and children, to create thousands of widows and orphans do not do so in the name o Islam. By the grace of Allah the Almighty, may justice be served upon them....Why have we not been able to bring education to our children on our own? Fathers and parents, I implore you to dedicate your full effort and commitment to see that all your children are educated. Otherwise, they will merely graze like seep in the field, at the mercy of nature and the world changing so terrifyingly around us. I request America to look into our hearts and see that the great majority of us are not terriosts, but good and simple people. Our land is stricken with poverty because we are without education, But today, another candle of knowledge as been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in."

have you ever had a shoogy boom?

Happy New Years

We had a small New Years party our at apartment that included yummy snacks, games, and auld lang syne. Quite enjoyable!!

We went for a walk...

We went for a walk yesterday and as we headed down one of the many sets of staircases we saw a demonstration in the middle of downtown. Downtown was our destination. We knew immediately this was a march against the missle tirade in Gaza. This group of maybe 400 were in the middle of the street, standing and chanting. It looked a little odd because there was no police or any authority organizing this demonstration. As we descended some more, we saw that suddenly the crowd of 400 just dispersed running all directions like ants scattering to rebuild their home. We decided to go on and check all this out. After arriving, there was about 200 people still milling around. We spoke to an older lady and asked what was happening. She mentioned, "Gaza, Palestinians, police, and gas." We believe she trying to explain that the police threw tear gas into the crowd because in Jordan only government sanctioned marches are allowed. After this, several buses of soldiers pulled up, unloaded,and began patrolling the area. Everything seemed to calm down and we went on our way. It was exciting event to witness.