Three Cups of Deceit

By Jamie (Age 13, Renaissance College)

Editor's note: Read a response from a student who believes Greg Mortenson's accomplishments far outweigh Jon Krakauer's allegations. 

Three Cups of Tea is about how Greg Mortenson, failing to climb K2, got separated from his teammates and found his way to Korphe, a Pakistani village. The villagers healed the weak Mr. Mortenson and in return he promised to build a school, which happened one year later. He made his adventures into the book Three Cups of Tea and it became a New York Times bestseller. He also founded a non-profit organization called Central Asia Institute. The money earned from his book and donations from readers who were touched by his story was used to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, it was revealed that some facts in Three Cups of Tea were false, made up, and this accusation was confirmed by Jon Krakauer, the author of Three Cups of Deceit. 

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

I think that Greg Mortenson purposefully deceived the public with his book and he should be prepared for the consequences. Since a lot of people bought his book and gave donations to Central Asia Institute, a lot of people would be mad and furious since all their money has been given to a deceitful organization. Even though he has been using the money from CAI's funds to build schools, it has been found by Jon Krakauer that the building of the schools have only used up 41% of the funding donations. Advertising and promotional activities for Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute have used up the rest of the funds.

All of these allegations have been gathered up and written into a book called Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer. There have been serious accusations. Although over 170 schools have been built by the Central Asia Institute in Pakistan and Afghanistan, many have been reported to be left empty and unused. Also, in these schools, there has been no attempt to hire teachers and buy supplies for the students, which makes the school an empty shell. It has also been found that the proceeds from book sales do not go to the Central Asia Institute, but instead to Greg Mortenson.

All these allegations are enough to outweigh Greg Mortenson's accomplishments in Central Asia. As the Chinese saying says, "A bad person is still a bad person, no matter what they do to change the fact." Whatever good deeds such as building schools that Greg Mortenson has done, he cannot change the fact that he has written a book with false facts, deceived millions of people into donating to his "non-profit organization", and used the money himself for his personal use. So, I think that although Greg Mortenson is a person who has done good deeds, he still has flaws and is not one to be believed in.