Three Cups of Tea

There is nothing I love more than hearing the stories of people who have allowed their lives to make a difference in this world. This is exactly the story of Greg Mortenson, who's amazing adventure is recorded in the book Three Cups of Tea.

Greg grew up as the son of missionaries on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, and developed a passion for mountain climbing. After moving back to the states, Greg worked just enough hours as a nurse in order to finance his next mountain climbing adventure.

The fateful trip that changed Greg's life forever and was an attempt at climbing the second biggest and the most difficult peak in the world, K2 in Pakistan. On the trip, Greg was separated from his climbing group, he eventually ended up
weak and exhausted and close to death in a little village called Korphe. The village people cared for him and when he was ready to find his way back to a city he asked how he could repay their kindness. The people asked for a school for their children.



Greg made it back to the states, but couldn't forget the request of the village in Pakistan. He was nothing more a mountain climber, with no experience starting rural schools in a volatile country like Pakistan. But, nonetheless Greg went back to work, lived out of his car, and saved every penny he made in order to buy building supplies for the village.

Through a series of miraculous events Greg was entrusted with a large amount of money, to start building. To date, Greg has built over 78 schools throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan, educating over 28,000 children. Children who's only other offer at education is from terrorist organizations that teach them militant Islam.




Greg Mortenson is now head of The Central Asia Institute who's goal is to build even more schools and to provide education for girls in countries where education is only offered to boys.

To me, the amazing thing is that Greg was just a regular guy going about his everyday life when he was presented with a chance to make a difference. He was not given an easy chance, he was presented with a huge, some would say impossible task of building a school in a country he knew next to nothing about, with no funds, no experience, and no one to help. But Greg still decided to go for it, and now over 28,000 children have been given an education. What an amazing life!



Read the book, the entire story is incredible! I promise you will enjoy it and be amazingly inspired.

Shoes for a Better Tomorrow

Toms is a shoe company started in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, a guy who decided he wanted to make a difference in others lives. Blake was on a trip to Argentina when he discovered that numerous children did not have any shoes, without which they could not attend school. So he started a company selling shoes designed after the traditional Argentine alpargata - a slip on shoe in bright colors and patterns - with the mission that for every pair of shoes purchased he would donate a pair to a child in need. So far Toms has donated over 1115,000 shoes to children in need in Argentina and South Africa on several Shoe Drop tours. Instead of just starting a charity, Mycoskie used his entrepreneurial experience to start a business that would self fund this charitable venture.

Last year I purchase a pair of Toms for my husband for Valentines day. What is better than a gift that provides for those in need? The shoes are super cute with lots of unique designs, my favorite are the Tiny Toms...I'll have to wait a while before I can buy these!

I love the idea of people taking their resources, in this case a shoe company, and making a difference in the world around them. I'll continue to support companies like Toms who decide to make a difference in the world around them.

World Changers Nextdoor

Nothing inspires me more than stories of everyday people who are using their talents, energy, and resources to help make a difference in others lives. I have read so many books and articles about people throughout history and in our present day who have done extraordinary things to change the world around them. Over the next weeks and months I plan to share some of these stories with you with the belief that as we learn about the lives of others we will be challenged to allow our life to make a difference as well.

I hope you will check back with me to read about some amazing men and women and their incredible stories.

I would love to learn about more stories as well, feel free to share here the stories of the world changers you know of.