A School for My Village
Anna Spangler Professor Williamson English 101 November 19, 2012 A School For My Village The story of the building of an extraordinary school for innocent orphans that are not healthy and the astonishing effort by one man, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, to raise an African community out of poverty and hopelessness makes a highly inspiring book. A School For My Village is an unforgettable page- turner that demonstrates that one person with a bold dream can change the lives of people who deeply need it and can make the world a better place to live in.
This story is a great example of how turning tragedy into hope can result in a very successful thing and how one person can truly make an enormous difference in the world for the better. Kaguri tells his story of how he overcame tremendous odds on building a tuition-free school for HIV/AIDS orphans in his home village of Nyakagyezi, Uganda. This amazing story combines his own story of growing up in Nyaka, the events that led him promoter for HIV/AIDS, and his journey toward founding/ developing the school. Growing up in rural Uganda, Kaguri lived on his family’s small farm and often-worked long hours for his father.
His parents were barely able to send him to college with the little money that they had saved, but Kaguri overcame the odds and eventually became a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York City. He overcame poverty to earn a degree and worked as a human rights advocate. When he returned to his village in Uganda with his wife after earning his degree, the number of orphans who were the victims of the HIV/AIDS epidemic overwhelmed him with dissatisfaction, so he vowed to open the first tuition-free school in the district for these innocent children who desperately needed it.
Faced with many daunting obstacles, including little money, skepticism among friends in both the U. S. and Uganda, corrupt school inspectors, and a lack of supplies, he and his wife doggedly built one classroom after another until they had an accredited primary school filled with students dreaming of becoming the future doctors, teachers, lawyers, engineers, and even presidents of Uganda.
This inspiring story is a very heart warming one that makes you realize how lucky you actually are for the life that you have and the amount of opportunities you can get that you are able to succeed in. This story really teaches you to not be selfish and I believe that is an important aspect that every human being needs to learn better. Who knew one person could make such an impact on so many lives for the better? Kaguri answered that question on a whole new level with his actions that he had completed and been successful in.
A School For My Village teaches readers that anything is possible if you put hard work into it. It also teaches you to never give up no matter how many things are not in your favor or working in your manor. Kaguri did not want the children of his hometown to be held back because of the opportunities/ learning utensils that they did not have, so he found a way to give them what they need in order to be successful. Those heroic efforts accomplished by Kaguri are truly unbelievable and definitely need to be known throughout the world.
