The oppressor benefits for the day, the oppressed - for life

He saw five men approaching. The four burly men walking behind carried clubs made of poplar branches that they smacked against their palms in time with their steps. The leader was a thin, unhealthy looking older man who leaned on his cane as he climbed to Korphe. He stopped, rudely, fifty yards from Haji Ali, and made Korphe's nurmadhar walk out to greet him.

Twaha leaned toward Mortenson. "This man Haji Mehdi. No good." he whispered.

Mortenson was already acquainted with Haji Mehdi, the nurmadhur of Askole. "He made a show of being a devout Muslim," Mortenson says. "But he ran the economy of the whole Braldu Valley like a mafia boss. He took a percentage of every sheep, goat, or chiken the Balti sold, and he ripped off climbers, setting outrageous prices for supplies. If someone sold so much as an egg to an expedition without paying him his cut, Haji Mehdi sent his henchmen to beat them with clubs."

... Mehdi ...said ..."I have heard that an infidel has come to poison Muslim children, boys as well as girls, with his teachings....Allah forbids the education of girls. And I forbid the construction of this school."

"We will finish out school," Haji Ali said evenly. "Whether you forbid it or not."

....

"And you, are you not a muslim?" Medhi said, turning menacingly toward Haji Ali. "There is only one God. So you worship Allah? Or this kafir?"

Haji Ali clapped his hand on Mortenson's shoulder. "No one else has ever come here to help my people. I 've paid you money every year but you have done nothing for my village. This man is a better Muslim then you. He deserves my devotion more than you do."

"If you insist on keeping your kafir school, you must pay a price" Medhi said,..."I demand twelve of your largest rams"

"As you wish," Haji Ali said, turning his back on Mehdi, to emphasize how he had degraded himself by demanding a bribe....

"You have to understand, in these villages, a ram is like a firstborn child, prize cow and family pet all rolled into one"...

....

'It was one of the most humbling things I've ever seen," Mortenson says, "Haji Ali had just handed over half the wealth of the village to this crook, but he was smiling like he'd just won a lottery."

..."Don't be sad...Long after all those rams are dead and eaten this school will still stand. Haji Hehdi has food today. Now our children have education forever"

- From "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin