4 ms·

A nice read about this is "Three cups of tea". There's a passage in there that goes something like "Thank you, Dr. Greg, for offering to help us build a school

by lutorm 18y ago

A nice read about this is "Three cups of tea". There's a passage in there that goes something like "Thank you, Dr. Greg, for offering to help us build a school. We talked about it and before we build the school, we decided we need to build a bridge." So they built the bridge instead...

robg 18y ago
We also recently found a great book on this topic: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/ http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/) by John Wood founder of Room to Read (roomtoread.org). They require locals to build libraries and schools and raise the material and labor. Then they pay for scholarships and equipment and supplies. It's a true partnership.
curtis 18y ago
It's important to remember that after building the bridge, they then built the school. In fact, Greg Mortenson's organization (The Central Asia Institute) has built dozens of schools since then. It's been a while since I read the book, but as I recall, in that particular village, they had at least one teacher, but the children had to study outside until the school building was completed. (I also recommend "Three Cups of Tea". It's not as well written as, say, Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains", but it doesn't matter, the story pretty much tells itself.)
- mnemonicsloth 18y ago
  not as well written as, say, Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains"... This is the second time I've seen Kidder's work mentioned here in the last few days [1]. I've read and enjoyed Soul of a New Machine. Would you recommend any of his other books? [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=601903 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=601903
  - curtis 18y ago
    Mountains Beyond Mountains is the only other Kidder book I've read. It's certainly worth a read, but it's a really different book from Soul of a New Machine, just by subject matter if nothing else.

by lutorm 18y ago

robg 18y ago

We also recently found a great book on this topic: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/ http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/) by John Wood founder of Room to Read (roomtoread.org). They require locals to build libraries and schools and raise the material and labor. Then they pay for scholarships and equipment and supplies. It's a true partnership.

curtis 18y ago

It's important to remember that after building the bridge, they then built the school. In fact, Greg Mortenson's organization (The Central Asia Institute) has built dozens of schools since then. It's been a while since I read the book, but as I recall, in that particular village, they had at least one teacher, but the children had to study outside until the school building was completed. (I also recommend "Three Cups of Tea". It's not as well written as, say, Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains", but it doesn't matter, the story pretty much tells itself.)

mnemonicsloth 18y ago
not as well written as, say, Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains"... This is the second time I've seen Kidder's work mentioned here in the last few days [1]. I've read and enjoyed Soul of a New Machine. Would you recommend any of his other books? [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=601903 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=601903
- curtis 18y ago
  Mountains Beyond Mountains is the only other Kidder book I've read. It's certainly worth a read, but it's a really different book from Soul of a New Machine, just by subject matter if nothing else.