Though humanitarian work may not be everyone's cup of tea, Greg Mortenson has built a career out of helping others.
"I actually wrote 'Three Cups of Tea' because my wife said, 'You need to write a book so you can be home more,'" Mortenson said. "Unfortunately, it didn't quite work that way."
Mortenson said "Three Cups of Tea" didn't do well the first year on the shelves, but because of book clubs and women's groups, it took off. Now, even many counterinsurgency-training courses teach from the book, Mortenson said.
Although he has traveled the world, Mortenson said he couldn't do it without the support of his family.
"It's very painful. I'm gone from my family more than half the year, as are many people in the military or mission work or humanitarian work," Mortenson said. "It really is kids and spouses who pay the greatest price and make that great sacrifice. I get criticized sometimes. My wife and family, they support what I do, and they would say that's what they want me to do."
However, Mortenson's role in his humanitarian work has changed.
"I see myself more as a cheerleader now," Mortenson said. "I am an advocate for education, but I strive to empower people. Most of the things that we do now--it's not me, it's our staff. They're totally in charge. They do everything."
Mortenson said all the schools he has helped build are doing well.
None of them have been destroyed or shut down by the Taliban.
He credits his parents, who were both educators, for serving as role models.
However, he does have other people he said he looks up to.
"My hero? One was Dr. Albert Schweitzer," Mortenson said. "He was a medical missionary in Congo. He wrote a book called 'Reverence for Life.' It says that all life is sacred. Humans, animals, plants--and we are to respect all living life. And also Mother Teresa. I was amazed at how such a small tiny woman could bring so much hope to kids. "
Mortenson has been the topic of discussion regarding the passage in the book that states he met Mother Teresa in 2000 because the humanitarian died in 1997.
The date discrepancy has caused controversy.
"She died in '97, and the way the words are written, the last paragraph, it infers that it was 2000," Mortenson said. "I was there in '97. The book needs some corrections. We haven't gotten all of them done yet."
In the future, Mortenson said his dream is to set up a global portal to help young men and women worldwide to go get an education.
"I was thinking like a website, a global portal," Mortenson said, "where anyone in Auburn could identify somebody in Bolivia or Cambodia or Sudan and link up with them, and for five or six hundred dollars a year, you could help their dream come true."
For students who have read his books and have been inspired to make a difference in the world, Mortenson offered this tip:
"One advice I have is if you have problems yourself, then don't go out in the world to solve other peoples' problems. So first, make yourself a very strong person."
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