Questions over Greg Mortenson's stories

(CBS News) 

Please note this story has been formatted transcript style.

Greg Mortenson is a former mountain climber, best-selling author, humanitarian, and philanthropist. His non-profit organization, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), is dedicated to promoting education, especially for girls, in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and according to its web site, has established more than 140 schools there.

President Obama donated $100,000 to the group from the proceeds of his Nobel Prize. Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea, has sold more than four million copies and is required reading for U.S. servicemen bound for Afghanistan.

But last fall, we began investigating complaints from former donors, board members, staffers, and charity watchdogs about Mortenson and the way he is running his non-profit organization. And we found there are serious questions about how millions of dollars have been spent, whether Mortenson is personally benefiting, and whether some of the most dramatic and inspiring stories in his books are even true.

Greg Mortenson's books have made him a publishing phenomenon and sought-after speaker on the lecture circuit, where he has attained a cult-like status. He regularly draws crowds of several thousand people and $30,000 per engagement.

And everywhere Mortenson goes, he brings an inspirational message built around a story that forms the cornerstone of Three Cups of Tea and his various ventures - how, in 1993, he tried and failed to reach the summit of K2, the world's second tallest mountain, to honor his dead sister, how he got lost and separated from his party on the descent and stumbled into a tiny village called Korphe.

Greg Mortenson (speaking on big T.V. screen): My pants were ripped in half and I hadn't taken a bath in 84 days.

Mortenson (in T.V. interview): And I stumbled into a little village called Korphe, where I was befriended by the people and...

Mortenson (in another T.V. interview): They gave me everything they had: their yak butter, their tea. They put warm blankets over me, and they helped nurse me back to health.

Mortenson tells how he discovered 84 children in the back of the village writing their school lessons with sticks in the dust.

Mortenson (speaking on stage): And when a young girl named Chocho came up to me and said...

Mortenson (speaking on another stage): Can you help us build a school? I made a rash promise that day and I said, "I promise I'll help build a school." Little did I know it would change my life forever.

It's a powerful and heart-warming tale that has motivated millions of people to buy his book and contribute nearly $60 million to his charity.

Jon Krakauer: It's a beautiful story, and it's a lie.

Jon Krakauer is also a best-selling author and mountaineer, who wrote Into Thin Air and Into The Wild. He was one of Mortenson's earliest backers, donating $75,000 to his non-profit organization.

But after a few years, Krakauer says he withdrew his support over concerns that the charity was being mismanaged, and he later learned that the Korphe tale that launched Mortenson into prominence was simply not true.

Steve Kroft: Did he stumble into this village weak in a weakened state?

Krakauer: Absolutely not.

Kroft: Nobody helped him out. And nursed him back to health.

Krakauer: Absolutely not. I have spoken to one of his companions, a close friend, who hiked out from K2 with him and this companion said Greg never heard of Korphe till a year later.

Strangely enough, Krakauer's version of events is backed up by Greg Mortenson himself, in his earliest telling of the story. In an article he wrote for the newsletter of The American Himalayan Foundation after his descent from K2, Mortenson makes no mention of his experience in Korphe, although he did write that he hoped to build a school in another village called Khane.

Produced by Andy Court, Kevin Livelli and Maria Usman

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[Katididit77]

Hi..I am in support of Greg Mortenson and his co-author, David Relin, in regards to the "Three Cups of Tea" book that was published, along with numerous pictures, to help substantiate his and his organization's validity.
An attack by another author who wrote.."Into Thin Air", of which self-same author admits that he had to rely upon the 'reconstructed' stories of his fellow climbers, because Mr. Krakauer's brain was not 'working', (his own words) and he could not process what was going on without the 'fill-in-the-blanks' provided by his fellow climbers, seems tantamount towards calling the book authered by Mr. Mortenson with the assist of Mr. David Relin as 'The pot calling the Kettle, black!.'
Then, Mr. Krakauer, has the supposed right to say that his book: "Into The Wild" was actually based upon fact, when, it is classified as 'fiction'.? He is , it seems, good at gathering notes from other people who should be given credit. Was he, himself, along with the young man who made his trek into the Alasken wilderness and then watched as that young man died? Doubt it..just as I doubt the 'put-down' upon Mr. Mortenson and David Relin's book: "Three Cups of Tea"
Who's kidding who, Mr. Krakauer? Thanks...Kat

[raidernation99]

I apologize for misunderstanding. I was not trying to present an Afghanistan accent. You took my reply out of context. Not even close to being a racist. Again, I am very sorry.

[lillian04]

I just started reading Three Cups of Tea a few weeks ago. None of what 60 Minutes is saying seems particularly shocking or surprising to me. For example, it probably does cost that much more to promote a book in the U.S. than it does to build 100 schools in Pakistan. I found the story to be engaging and inspiring, but also suspected all along that some of the facts were distorted to make the story flow better. If he had stated only dry facts, would the book have made the best seller list and would people be lining up to hear him speak? I went on the Central Asia Institute's website and noticed that there are only a handful of Board Members, 2 of whom are "emeritus" and no longer living. That he has questionable management skills is not surprising. He never mentions getting an MBA in his book. Lots of would-be successful entrepreneurs have great ideas, but no idea how to implement and even worse, don't seem to understand that commingling of funds makes you look bad. So he can't keep track how many schools he has really founded, but he doesn't seem like a bean counter to me. More an idealist. That's really what the appeal is with 3 Cups of Tea... that you can start with nothing and build a dream, any dream. I think some of his dream for schools in Pakistan is still real, at least I hope so. By the way, this isn't the first time that Americans have invested money into building schools for girls in Pakistan, USAID (part of the State Department) has been doing it for years. I am enjoying the book, but probably won't be donating to his organization. Not because of this 60 Minutes story, but because we need to put our resources to building schools in the U.S. first.

[CrescentBeach]

A lot of people who've commented on the Mortenson story, in particular those who continue to defend Greg, would do well to read a recent piece in Mother Jones on "Motivated Reasoning" and consider whether any of it applies to them. Lots of interesting food for thought about clinging to beliefs notwithstanding evidence to the contrary, reaching conclusions and then cherry-picking facts to support them, and so on. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney

[youmakeittoughtoregister]

I'm trying to keep an open mind on this topic and I certainly agree with the concept of "motivated reasoning", but I may point out that there is always the question in a discussion of exactly WHO is "clinging to beliefs notwithstanding evidence to the contrary, reaching conclusions and then cherry-picking facts to support them, and so on." Especially the cherry-picking part. Usually it's both sides. For every person CBS comes up with who has made statements supporting their story, others have come forward with either contradictory testimony or explanations based on personal experience in that part of the world. I would also point out that Steve Kroft and John Krakauer BOTH have a vested interest in being right and neither is lacking in ego. In addition, CBS has a rather sketchy history of "fact checking." I would refer you to the Dan Rather vs. George W. Bush debacle. I prefer to stick to the facts rather than insinuating that EITHER side is acting in a cult-like fashion or hell-bent on destroying someone's reputation for their own glorification. As the "facts" seem to be still in question, I'll reserve judgement until more discussion shakes out further information. In the interim, I think what may be clear on both sides is that Mr. Mortensen has a problem with organisation. However, last time I checked, this was not a crime and there are plenty of people much more worthy of the villification I've seen in some of the posts I've read.

[drdianab]

This is the problem with turning real people into icons and heroes. They inevitably end up real people after all and then we vilify them for not meeting our expectations. I have no doubt that Greg Mortensen is not a perfect person, he may indeed have spun events for the sake of a good story and, despite a four star rating from Charity Navigator, his organization may not be flawlessly run. But stop to consider that there are lots of good adventure stories and the notion that the villagers saved Mr. Mortensen or that he survived a kidnapping is not the reason word of mouth made "Three Cups of Tea" a runaway bestseller. The reason this book and the CAI is such a raging success is that we all recognize at a gut level that it is this approach, and not militaristic battering, that will eventually put an end to terrorism and likely a great many other ills the world suffers from. While I applaud 60 Minutes and other such news organizations for upholding truth and accountability, I would urge them to wisely consider what to do with the torch before they weaken the hand that holds it. Failure in this regard will inevitably call their objectivity, intelligence and motives into question. I would urge all concerned, most importantly, those of us who are observing, not to lose sight of the fact that the way Mr. Mortensen may or may not have imparted his principles to us and the skills he may have or lack to run a rapidly growing organization does not mar the truth and beauty of the concept. Perhaps a better application of energy would be to stop picking apart the details and attacking what's wrong and instead step up to what is right and do it better.

[FriendlySkeptic]

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=491175299&ids=0UcP8UcP0NejgIcjAUcP8TcjAQb3wNd3gUe34Vd2MMdPcTc3sNejgIejAOdjsNcjAQ&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-100

Read this article by philanthropic experts about Greg/CAI, as to whether or not it's "okay" ethically or legally to do what CAI has shown they are doing, when you run an organization. Very informative article for all of us. . .

[seringsenge]

Please visit http://www.gilgitbaltistan.us to learn more about the region where Mortenson started his school projects. We the natives of Gilgit-Baltistan, a region of former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir do have lot of respect for him for providing education to girls in that area. The region has one of the lowest per capita incomes and one of the lowest literacy rates and without support of NGOs like CAI and AKDN, education would be a dream for the majority as more than half of the locals live below the poverty line. Since Pakistan government has failed to provide for the educational needs of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, it is people like Mortenson who became the hope for us

[daffodil61]

Greg is an American by birth but was not raised in the US. He left here as a 3-month old and was raised in Africa in a very primitive area with no awareness/accounting of the passage of time, business, etc. He was computer illiterate in 1993 when he began his mission to raise $$ for the first school. He does not do the accounting for the institute, nor does he take care of the legal issues. If there are problems in those areas, he is not responsible--he hired experts in those fields to take care of that!! He works like a madman with a harrowing speaking schedule and trips to Central Asia--missing much of his own children's childhood in the process. I see no problem with his retaining control of his intellectual property, such as his books. Nor do I see a problem with his taking a salary out of those proceeds--he has a wife and family who need a roof over their heads and have sacrificed much. Also, he did not author the first book, he hired a journalist, David Oliver Relin, to write the book and it was David's recommendation to "take literary license" in some instances to make the book more readable--such as the condensing of the visits to Korphe into one. The abduction is addressed in the book--he was held against his will and then accepted--this accounts for the pictures, in my mind. It seems that in that society, you are either enemy or family and Greg started out as enemy and then became family--because they grew to know his heart.
His unusual upbringing makes him wired very differently than most people who are used to creature comforts, routine, etc. This is what makes him uniquely suited to building relationships in the poorest areas of war-torn Pakistan and Afghanistan. I am sure he has made mistakes but they are honest ones!! His intent is not to defraud but to build up.
I am not sure I could work with a man like Greg. He works on impulse and to hell with procedure! LOL But that would my due to MY own hangups, not his. Shame on the people who found they could not stand to work with such an unstructured person and then sought to tear down the good he does, so their own egos are left intact. I love that the author states that Greg Mortenson is devoid of ego--speaks volumes about Greg's charcter!! I think "60 Minutes" simply didn't do a thorough job--trying to make deadlines, etc. Read the statement from the CAI board--they know the whole truth.

[FriendlySkeptic]

I understand some of what you're saying and pray that all will work out for the good that CAI does as you wish, also. However, (and this is a big however) you so lightly smooth over rather serious charges (that come with more than a modicum of proof) that are serious. Don't talk about egos of others who want to think the worst, as there are egos here who similarly want to believe all is well--when clearly, it is not, and may never have been at all. And to say "Read the statement from the CAI board--they know the truth." is not logical-it's almost laugh out loud, ridiculous. Remember, the head of the Board is GREG,himself (and two other "go along friends"-read their bios)--that's it. And then you go on & blame the journalist for taking literary license--not right A. you've "assumed" that Relin made the errors and not Greg(condensing is not the issue--making up incidents out of whole cloth, is and THAT is what is seriously alleged--not "condensing"). And B. Greg could have said to author if that was the case, "Hey, you made that whole thing up--please don't do that" and he didn't. And "on the road" he REPEATS, not dispels these falsehoods. Is the author along the ride, shocking him with electric shocks if Greg doesn't keep up the charade that you're claiming author forced Greg to comply with? Really?!? Also, NO one said that they didn't praise what good Greg did--not 60 Minutes, not Krakauer, no one. So don't go there and attack something that didn't happen. And you can't blame the accountants for lack of accountability, either. Why? Greg makes the rules around there-didn't you understand that? He wanted rules flouted--for control-That's why many Donors who saw these egregious problems left, good Board members, staff members, ex-friends, etc. Greg was/is a control-freak and more importantly, he shouldn't be in control as he did things that weren't right, he was told they weren't right and he did them anyway. He's truly not the hero some are making him out to be, regardless of the great things he has accomplished. Sorry, but your idol has clay feet and that's the reality. You've minimized serious issues that need correcting. I hope that Greg's work continues, but Greg needs to do the "pitch" (but with reality) and let the real leadership rest with a trusted and true leader--and that is not going to be Greg. Also, there are many other charities working in the area that are doing good work, fully accountable, experts at handling schools & money and they're just not as self-promoting--Look up Aga Khan Foundation and many others (google them), please. I'm not sure "being wired differently" is going to be enough to be acceptable to Charity watchdogs, IRS, donors, etc., is it?

[daffodil61]

Greg is an American by birth but was not raised in the US. He left here as a 3-month old and was raised in Africa in a very primitive area with no awareness/accounting of the passage of time, business, etc. He was computer illiterate in 1993 when he began his mission to raise $$ for the first school. He does not do the accounting for the institute, nor does he take care of the legal issues. If there are problems in those areas, he is not responsible--he hired experts in those fields to take care of that!! He works like a madman with a harrowing speaking schedule and trips to Central Asia--missing much of his own children's childhood in the process. I see no problem with his retaining control of his intellectual property, such as his books. Nor do I see a problem with his taking a salary out of those proceeds--he has a wife and family who need a roof over their heads and have sacrificed much. Also, he did not author the first book, he hired a journalist, David Oliver Relin, to write the book and it was David's recommendation to "take literary license" in some instances to make the book more readable--such as the condensing of the visits to Korphe into one. The abduction is addressed in the book--he was held against his will and then accepted--this accounts for the pictures, in my mind. It seems that in that society, you are either enemy or family and Greg started out as enemy and then became family--because they grew to know his heart.
His unusual upbringing makes him wired very differently than most people who are used to creature comforts, routine, etc. This is what makes him uniquely suited to building relationships in the poorest areas of war-torn Pakistan and Afghanistan. I am sure he has made mistakes but they are honest ones!! His intent is not to defraud but to build up.
I am not sure I could work with a man like Greg. He works on impulse and to hell with procedure! LOL But that would my due to MY own hangups, not his. Shame on the people who found they could not stand to work with such an unstructured person and then sought to tear down the good he does, so their own egos are left intact. I love that the author states that Greg Mortenson is devoid of ego--speaks volumes about Greg's charcter!! I think "60 Minutes" simply didn't do a thorough job--trying to make deadlines, etc. Read the statement from the CAI board--they know the whole truth.

[passiflores585]

It's been a week since the 60 Minutes piece on Greg Mortenson. Old news now, and I doubt many are checking this site to get more insight into the issue. But I feel compelled to write anyway, since so much has come out in this past week, information I think is important to anyone interested in getting as complete a picture as possible about this complicated man and his mission to build schools, mostly for girls, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I have read the posts here and elsewhere, and despite the bickering between passionate posters of all persuasions, have learned much more about the CAI situation than 60 Minutes cared to report. For example, the school in Bozai Gumbaz which was featured so strongly in Stones Into Schools and was shown as abandoned by CBS. That was a damning image. But, it turns out, there is a lot more effort to get education to the kids of that region than one un-used building would suggest. Please read this NYT times piece which exhibits the kind of investigative journalism that 60 Minutes would do well to emulate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/weekinreview/24mortenson.html?ref=gregmortenson.

Another incident which has been made much of, the alleged kidnapping, is also a more complex story than 60 Minutes (and indeed many of the posters who long to take a strong stand pro or con) would like to admit. On April 19 McKenzieFunk revealed on this site that according to his research, Naimat Gul Mahsud, the "research director of a respected think tank in Islamabad," whom CBS trotted out as a star witness, is actually a con artist who "tried to extort money from his relatives by purporting to have abducted Mortenson". If this is so, we can just imagine what bad blood exists between these two. Clearly, Mortenson was in a position to do the most damage to the other's reputation via his books. Perhaps in hindsight it would have been more prudent to just duke it out in Pakistan. But kudus to Funk for doing the investigative work that 60 Minutes neglected to do. Through his digging we learn there is little black and white in this story.

A third piece I came across concerns Krakauer. Much has been said about his possible motives, but very little hard core "truth" about this man I once revered (for his "Into the Wild"). But on Daniel Glick's blog I found this post:


"It's interesting that nobody is drawing a correlation between the disgruntled former CAI board member who was fired for misuse of funds and the close relationship this board member has with Krakauer."

Wow!! If this is true, 60 Minutes was grossly remiss in not looking into Krakauer as well as Mortenson! I feel frustrated that I will never know the behind the scenes truth as to why 60 Minutes decided to tell millions that one NGO had some holes in it, rather than a piece on ALL the NGOs that have problems, as well as some that don't. They gave Krakauer a lot of power, without, it seems, looking into HIS possible motives.

This was also on Glick's blog, someone posting:

"The initial story that 60 Minutes did on GM may have been altered to suit whatever editorial/business demands of the day, just like they alter stories to satisfy bullying special interests in other fields. Stands to reason that both sides could be slightly inaccurate. Perhaps the crux is that we need to stop expecting corporate media to broadcast stories that are both true and accurate."

It's hard for me to go that route. Corporate media reaches and influences millions--are half truths good enough? If we the people don't insist that the media uphold high standards, who will? But is there any real avenue for doing this?? Just boycotting the show is not what I have in mind, for 60 Minutes seems, for the most part, to be unbiased. But why not investigate them and, if possible, get closer to the truth? (a new job for you Krakauer?)