World Peace through Education

In our educational psychology class, Dr. Langholz has given us the opportunity to work on an independent project as an alternative to a traditional final exam. We were presented with different options shortly after our midterm exam, and originally I had intended to read 3 additional education-related books, but I realized quickly that time constraint might make this difficult, so I am now preparing a different project. However, I had begun reading "Three Cups of Tea," which turned out to be so fascinating a read in itself that I continued with it in my spare time.
I finished the book on Thanksgiving day, laying on the floor of my grandmother's house, my stomach full from a bounteous traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Certainly a juxtaposition from the lives of the young people Greg Mortenson is trying to help in his book, who have very, very little in the means of worldly possessions.
To summarize, Greg Mortenson was an avid mountain climber who failed an attempted climb of K2 in the early 90's. Weak and seperated from his crew on the way down, Mortenson is nursed back to health by local residents who very little to give, but they still give it all to help this stranger. Touched by their kindness and seeing their desperate need for a building for the young people to learn, Mortenson vows to someday return and build a school. In the years since, Mortenson has gone on to build over 50 schools in some of the most dangerous terrain on earth- Pakistan and Afghanistan, some places where the Taliban grew.
Essentially, Mortenson has seen that through education (notably the education of girls), peace, understanding, and an ability to move forward in the world is a possibility. Mortenson is a curious exception in the realm of mission-work, in that he is not pushing a Christian or western agenda- he simply is promoting education.
Mortenson is inspiring in that his work voices the simple idea that education (even basic) is a very powerful thing. Although I don't recommend that everyone who wants to make a difference in the world go to impoverished foreign countries to teach, I think we can be inspired to make some difference. Making sure every young person in America receives a real, quality education is something we can all work towards, and wanting to make a difference on the other side of the world is a worthy cause as well.
"Three Cups of Tea" is very insightful in realizing that something as simple as education or having tea with those who are seemingly radically different from ourselves can be helpful to see that we have more in common than we think. If Mortenson's work can prevent wars, what logical person would argue otherwise?