Author News and Book Reports
Twesigye Jackson Kaguri blazes new trail in education for 'poorest of the poor' in Nyaka, Uganda
A native of Uganda and now Interim Senior Director for External Relations and Development for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri was recently introduced by Nyaka AIDS Orphans board member and fundraiser Ann Hopkins at the RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he talked about his personal mission and his book--The Price of Stones (Viking; June, 2010). Transporting the audience to a tiny outpost called Nyaka in the wilderness of Uganda where he was born, Kaguri told the story of his own stubborn determination to get an education at an early age, his first encounter with the term human rights while a student at Uganda University, and how he subsequently managed to get into Columbia University in faraway New York City against all odds. Kaguri's life changed dramatically when he returned home to Nyaka and found his brother, a father of three children, dying of AIDS, a disease that had ravaged Uganda and left 2.2 million children orphaned in a country of 32 million people. Kaguri recalled his brother dying in his arms, whispering, 'Take care of my children.' Knowing that the best way to take care of children was to educate them, Kaguri began laying the foundation for a school for AIDS orphans in Nyaka, beginning with 56 'poorest of the poor' students and two teachers working for $50 per month, which today provides a quality education for 407 students. Kaguri developed a unique holistic educational approach, including not only the pencils and books necessary for learning, but also the medicine, hygiene, and support networks to enable children to attend school in a sustainable and meaningful way with few dropouts. After providing statistical proof of his remarkable educational success story, Kaguri closed his presentation with the inspirational story of 12-year-old Bruno's determined dream of living a better life through education, and the moving story of 6-year-old Scovia, one of the few Nyaka orphaned students suffering from AIDS, whose last wish was to be buried in her school uniform.
