Greg Mortenson: Fact or Fiction

Several years ago Greg Mortenson became of hero of mine. I read his book Three Cups of Tea, in which he recounts his failed attempt to climb Mt. Kilaminjaro, and the events that followed which ultimately led to his life's work, building schools for girls in Afghanistan. The book was truly inspirational. The son of a minister, Greg grew up in many far away countries, saw poverty and illiteracy, and wanted to do something about it. He began a foundation that raised money to build the schools in Afghanistan, began speaking nationwide about the mission of his foundation, and even testified before congress regarding the building of the schools and the need for our military to understand the culture of the areas in which they are fighting.

Then in April, 2011, along comes 60 Minutes with an investigative piece on Greg Mortenson, his schools and his foundation. According to the piece on 60 Minutes, much of what Greg Mortenson said and did is not true. How he was captured by the Talliban and held hostage is disputed, the number of schools he has actually built is now in question, and how he wandered into a small village after his failed attempt at climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is also in question. One of his strongest critics is Jon Krakauer, the author of such books as Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven. He is an author whom I greatly admire, so I hate to think that he's not telling the truth. Something is wrong somewhere. It's hard to imagine that 60 Minutes would do such a story without triple checking their facts. I am so disappointed.

You think someone is one to look up to and you find out they're not really what they say they are. Did Greg just exaggerate to make the story more interesting? Perhaps, but when you are telling a story as truth, you cannot do that. I want to believe that Mortenson's intentions were honorable. I don't want to believe that he did this all for money. I don't think we've heard the last of this, because if the story that CBS told the public is indeed true, his foundation will probably be investigated.

It's sad that we have to be so skeptical of everything today. When someone wins an Olympic Medal we question whether they were on drugs, with good reason. Over and over again we see that athletes in the Olympics, bicycling, baseball and football are superperforming because of drugs. We look up to these heroes, and then they fall. This is what happened in the case of Greg Mortenson. I looked up to him as someone who had dedicated his life to helping Afghan women, only to find out that everthing he said may not be true. It shakes your confidence. Who can you believe anymore?