Righteous Rib Hall-of-Femmer Greg Mortenson has been kidnapped, caught in a firefight, targeted in fatwehs, and even investigated by the CIA…and all for love of a girl. Well, girls.

He’s the guy who, since 1993, has been building dozens of schools, especially for girls, in impoverished rural areas of uber-oppressive Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time, is his book about it.

Facing down the Taliban and other religious extremists is brave, alright. But to me, what’s coolest about Greg is that he truly understands the impact that educating women has on society. He gets it.

“You can drop bombs, hand out condoms, build roads, or put in electricity, but until the girls are educated a society won’t change.”

Let’s repeat that: Until you educate the women of a society, nothing will really change.

There’s a lot of implications in that statement about the power of women. Which is probably why so many politicians and activists pay lip service to it (“yes, yes, we must remember the women”) but then resume dropping the bombs and dispensing the condoms.

The oppression of women and girls is so deeply ingrained in all societies that we have forgotten why they’re oppressed in the first place. Greg’s activism reminds us all that “girl power” isn’t just a cute slogan but a force that can literally change the world.

[tags]Greg Mortenson, men we love, women in poverty, education[/tags]