When best-selling author Greg Mortenson decided to build his first school for an underprivileged region in 1993, he was recovering from climbing the second-highest mountain in the world.

He didn’t make it to the top of the mountain, but he has since succeeded in other ways.

During his recovery, Mortenson met a group of children using sticks to write in the sand. He promised to help them build a school and then followed through on that promise.

He returned to the U.S. and began sending letters to celebrities asking for donations. In the first year, he spent $126 on postage and received only a $100 donation check from Tom Brokaw.

He lived out of his car for a period of time, but in 1996, the first school was completed.

Since then, he has started or significantly supported more than 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also has authored two best-selling books about his work in the Middle East.

Mortenson said Gen. David Petraeus determined three lessons from his book, “Three Cups of Tea,” that should be applied to U.S. foreign policy: listen more, use respect and build relationships.

Mortenson has influenced military men of all levels. In fact, “Three Cups of Tea” is required reading for U.S. Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan.

Speaking to a packed audience Wednesday at Lloyd Noble Center, Mortenson said the title of his book is a metaphor for the long process of relationship building.

During the first cup you’re a stranger, the second cup you’re a friend and the third cup you’re family, Mortenson said.

“It doesn’t just mean go around the world and drink a lot of tea ... We need to build relationships,” Mortenson said.

Mortenson stressed the importance of education, particularly that of girls living in rural, poverty-stricken regions of the world.

He said there are 118 million children who should be in school but aren’t, and 78 million are girls.

“If you educate a boy you educate an individual. If you educate a girl you educate a community,” Mortenson said, quoting an African proverb.

Afghanistan in the last 10 years has seen the greatest educational increase of anywhere in history. In 2000, 800,000 children were in school in Afghanistan, and in 2010 there were 8.5 million, Mortenson said.

He said women are instrumental in the increase.

“The driving force behind the tenacity to get an education is essentially the mothers,” he said.

The solution to poverty begins in the community, Mortenson said.

“We can never solve poverty from a think tank in Washington, D.C.,” he said

The state of Oklahoma raised more than $17,000 for Pennies for Peace a nonprofit organization started by Mortenson. He said this is the most money raised by any state for his organization.

“Of all the states, Oklahoma is No. 1,” Mortenson said.

Pennies may not seem like much, but there are enough pennies in the world to eradicate global illiteracy, Mortenson said.

He concluded his speech with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “Even if the world ends tomorrow, I will plant my seed today.”