“SEAGROVE POTTERS FOR PEACE – 200 CUPS OF TEA”

13 Seagrove Potters have created special drinking vessels as a fundraiser for American Greg Mortenson, whose #1 NY Times Bestseller “Three Cups of Tea – One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time” explains his own efforts for peace.

Mortenson, through his Central Asia Institute (CAI), has built hundreds of schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where illiterate and impoverished children are prey to recruitment by terrorist organizations.

On Saturday, August 15, 200 teacups, mugs and tumblers will be offered for sale, with the full purchase price being donated to CAI. Many items are specially inscribed for this event. Copies of Mortenson’s book in adult, young adult and children’s versions will be for sale at several potteries.

Vessels by Whynot, Thomas, Old Gap, Jugtown, From the Ground Up, Caldwell-Hohl and Ben Owen Potteries will be for sale at the individual shops.

Vessels by Westmoore, Tom Gray, Old Gap, From the Ground Up, Dover, Dean & Martin, Bulldog and Cady Clay Works Potteries will be for sale at Cady Clay Works.

Items will be available exclusively at the shops until August 24, when any remaining vessels can be ordered by email or telephone.

More information about the individual potteries, as well as a request form for a free Seagrove Area map, can be found at www.discoverseagrove.com, or email seagrovepottersforpeace@yahoo.com.

Mortenson, who many believe will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, will be the NC State Convocation speaker on August 17.

After a failed attempt to climb K2, the world’s second-tallest mountain, Mortenson got lost and wandered into a remote mountain village in Pakistan. The impoverished local people shared what little they had and nursed him back to health. He returned to the US, sold most of his belongings, lived in his car and tried to raise money to build the village a school. The skeptical villagers, who had heard promises from foreign climbers before, were astonished when he returned a year later with building materials.

In CAI’s publication, “Journey of Hope”, Karin Ronnow explains:
“Ultimately, most Pakistanis and Afghans want peace. They want working democracy. They want more and better-paying jobs, good roads, clean drinking water and food to eat. They are fed up with violence and they want to get on with living their lives.
And they know a better future for their children starts with education.”

More information can be found at CAI’s website, www.ikat.org, or www.penniesforpeace.org, an educational fundraising program for schoolchildren of all ages.

Potter Beth Gore of Cady Clay Works urges everyone, of all beliefs, to read “Three Cups of Tea”. “It’s obvious that we, as Americans, are woefully uninformed about the people, beliefs and way of life in these areas of military conflict.”

“Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time … (and) proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world.”
- Tom Brokaw, who made the first $100 donation to Mortenson’s effort in 1993.


- Beth Gore, Cady Clay Works, 910-464-5661, seagrovepottersforpeace@yahoo.com.