‘Stones into Schools’ has continued the story of Central Asian Institute where the ‘Three Cups of Tea’ left off in 2003. This narrative real life story weaves together many personal fascinating stories of the people who have been involved in this remarkable two-decade humanitarian effort. It shows how Greg and his fellow colleges, through determination and hard work, were able to establish schools for children in some of the remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan (and in some of the disputed territories) through this institution.  Its motto and message of ‘Promoting peace with books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan’ on the book cover of this novel has reached far and touched the hearts of many. This project also provided some of the financial and moral support system as scholarships and incentives to poor families of girls’ in order for them to pursue higher education to attain their personal career goals. Greg, being an expert in relating to human nature and psychology, was able to recruit local members wisely to his team who fit their roles precisely and were skilful in surviving and adapting to the harsh terrains of the Himalayas and Northern Mountains as well as understanding the prevalent strong local traditions and cultural practices. Gradually, he was able to built strong relationships with Islamic Clerics, militia commanders and tribal leaders which allowed the school building process to become more efficient and smoother.

Throughout his novel he has placed great emphasis on providing education to girls, as he says repeatedly, mantra-like, and believes that “If you educate a boy, you educate an individual, but if you educate a girl, you educate a community.” His constant effort of building schools in almost every underprivileged district of the Northern regions and his extra-ordinary work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake of 2005 has earned him the Sitara-i-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan), one of Pakistan’s highest civil awards, on March 23rd 2009.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story of a great humanitarian achievement. It has enabled me to know more about the culture, geography and the disturbing history of Afghanistan. It showed me how so much more can be achieved through education and literacy than weapons and wars and that there is a dire need for it throughout the world. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a passion to reach out to people through teaching and want to feel inspired in making a positive difference to the future generations of this planet, although it may only be a drop in an ocean.

According to New York Times these two novel series “have done more to advance US interests in the [Pakistan] region than the entire military and foreign policy apparatus of the Bush administration”.