My favorite type of book is one that combines each of these components. I want it to move me emotionally, make me think deeply about what it might mean for my own life, and light a fire within to bring about change, even if it is simple awareness.
Two exceptional examples are THREE CUPS OF TEA by Greg Mortenson and THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. Both are true stories and are powerful testaments to the value of education, family, and the will to survive against all odds.
In the shadow of the Himalayan Mountains in southeastern Asia, Greg Mortenson, a professional mountain climber, finds his passion in life shift from scaling the world's most daunting physical heights to conquering the divide that keeps the region's mountain people, (primarily the women) uneducated and in poverty. He ignores the common question, "what can one person really do to effect change" and commits his life to building schools in what the West considers one of the most hostile and remote regions of the world.
Here are two small excerpts from THREE CUPS OF TEA:
When the porcelain bowls of scalging butter tea steamed in their hands, Haji Ali spoke. "If you wan to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways," Haji Ali said, blowing on his bowl. "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die," he said, laying his hand warmly on Mortenson's own. "Doctor Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."
"That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I've ever learned in my life," Mortenson says. "We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. We're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. Our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign could end the war in Iraq before it even started. Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them."
William Kamkwamba was born in the southeastern African country of Malawi in 1988. The son of a poor farmer and his wife, in a country that often experienced drought and famine, William was fighting for his life from day one. Hungry, not only for food but for an education, William didn't let getting kicked out of school due to his families' inability to pay his tuition stop him. He found solice in a dark little closet that housed his village's "library" on three meager shelves, and studied on his own. His favorite texts: Integrated Science, Explaining Physics, and Using Energy.
What he does then at the age of 12 is truly remarkable.
Here is an excerpt from the book jacket:
"...with nothing more than a fistful of cornmeal in his stomach, a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks, and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to bring his family a set of luxuries that only two percent of Malawians could afford and what the West considers a necessity--electricity and running water. Using scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves, William forged a crude yet operable windmill, an unlikely contraption and small miracle that eventually powered four lights, complete with homemade switches and a circuit breaker made from nails and wire. A second machine turned a water pump that could battle the drought and famine that loomed with every season."
Two must-reads in my opinion!
