By now we all know that President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Do I blame him? Not at all. He didn’t ask for it. They just handed it to him. Actually, I feel a little sorry for him. He was given an award he didn’t ask for, and immediately our country, other countries, and his supporters started saying he doesn’t deserve it.
While I’m not here to bash or defend President Obama, I would like to make mention of the man who I believed did indeed deserve the award.
His name is Greg Mortenson. You’ve probably never heard of him. I hadn’t until today. But here’s what Nancy Gibbs from Time Magazine had to say about Obama’s win compared to Mortenson:
Compare this to Greg Mortenson, nominated for the prize by some members of Congress, who the bookies gave 20-to-1 odds of winning. Son of a missionary, a former army Medic and mountaineer, he has made it his mission to build schools for girls in places where opium dealers and tribal warlords kill people for trying. His Central Asia Institute has built more than 130 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan — a mission which has, along the way, inspired millions of people to view the protection and education of girls as a key to peace and prosperity and progress.
Mortenson also started Pennies for Peace, program sponsored by the Central Asia Institute (CAI) that “helps educate American children about the world to show them they can make a difference one penny at a time.”
By the way, at least check, Mortenson had helped build 131 schools in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan providing education to 54,000 students and over 44,000 girls.