Tuesday, April 6, 2010

In Chapter 4, Mortenson is giving background information on his family and telling about his different family members. He is talking about how his father had the goal of building a hospital in Tanzania. The hospital was built and Mortenson's father made the prediction that the head of every department at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center will be a Tanzanian. "My dad got blasted by the expats for that,"Mortenson says."But you know what? It happened. The place he built is still there today, the top teaching hospital in Tanzania, and a decade after he finished it, all the department heads were African. Watching him up there, I felt so proud that this big, barrel-chested man was my father. He taught me, he taught all of us, that if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything." I picked this quote because it ties in to what Mortenson is trying to do in building a school. His father was able to achieve his goal by believeing in himself and if Mortenson believes in himself, he will be able to achieve his goal of buiding a school. To me it means a lot, because if I believe in myself I can accomplish all of my goals and allof my dreams.

3 comments:

  1. I underlined in my book "He taught me, he taught all of us, that if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything." It also stuck with me due to the idea of accomplishing all of my goals/dreams. The strength of this quote derives mostly from Mortenson's father overcoming the odds, which is a foreshadowing to Mortenson and his accomplishments soon to come within the book.

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  2. I think Greg having grown up with such such a loving and giving family, one that identified so closely with the local people helped him to grow into the generous and dedicated man he became. Leading to his own project in Korphe.

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  3. This was a great quote Jennifer! I agree that if we believe in ourselves we can accomplish anything we set our mind to. This quote fit perfectly with the overall theme of the book.

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