Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” spoke about his experiences building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Celebrity Forum in the Flint Center from Nov. 17 through Nov. 20. The number of attendees increased every night. As the attendees poured in on the last  night, almost every seat in the Flint Center was taken.  According to house manager Gina Norberg, over 2,000 tickets were sold that night.

Having read both of Mortenson’s books, Eleanor Ignatowizz, a San Jose State alum,  said she was excited to attend the talk after one of her friends, a season ticket holder of the speaker series, offered her the tickets.

Ignatowizz said that she was “very impressed” with Mortenson’s work, that both books are similar, and she does not have a favorite selection from either one. She first heard about Mortenson’s work in the New York Times when his first book was released in 2006. 

Before beginning his talk, Mortenson played a sobering 10 minute video about his second book, “Stones into Schools.” As he began his presentation, he asked the audience how many of them read the book. Roughly half of the people in the room raised their hands. Later, when he asked the audience, “what was the name of the first chapter of my book?” only a few people raised their hands quickly. Many of the audience members chuckled. 

He told story of how he came to start building schools in Pakistan. In memory of his late sister, Mortenson wanted to put her amber necklace on the summit of K2 mountain, but ended up running into trouble on the ascent and was forced to turn around.

On his descent, Mortenson got lost and ended up in the village of Korphe, whose leader welcomed him. To repay them for their hospitality, Mortenson promised the villagers that he would one day return and build a school for them.

He then discussed, the model of insurgency and the structure of power in Middle Eastern culture. He used a simple animated visual of four green oblongs perpendicular to each other, each touching four smaller red circles, with the oblongs representing communities of elders, and the smaller circles representing the youth. He told the audience that communication with a community of elders is essential to achieving change, and how external forces such as insurgencies attempt to break them.

The audience gave Mortenson a standing ovation when he finished speaking. Norberg said that because of the talk’s “riveting topic,” it was “so well received by the audience.” She added that the pictures used during the presentation “brought the talk alive” and if people were not aware about his book prior to the talk, “they will be sure to read it afterward.”