Building a School for My Village.
Uganda is one of the countries in the interior of Africa and there is a village in the southwestern corner named Nyakagyezi. Twesigye Jackson lived there with his family and bore the heartbreak of seeing his beloved brother Frank die of what they call slim, what we call HIV/AIDS. He vowed to do something to help his village and this is his story. He built a school for children orphaned by AIDS. The school is Nyaka.
Twesigye had a strong faith and his dream of Nyaka became reality but "Nyaka didn't just happen. Without the vision energy, and single-minded dedication of Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, the children of Nyaka would be destined to live with shattered dreams, malnutrition, illiteracy and continued cycles of poverty. Thus, Nyaka is also proof that one person can still make a hugely positive difference in this world. And as Twesigye Jackson will be the first to tell you: the potential to do the same lies within all of us." (Lucy Steinitz, PhD ~ Family Health Internations in Windhoek, Namibia).
"By 1991, 15% of Ugandan adults were thought to have this disease. In cities, 30% of the pregnant women were infected."
When one or both parents die of AIDS, the orphaned children live with relatives, if they are lucky; many just fend for themselves. The Nyaka school grew to accommodate these children in all areas of their marginal lives: besides education, a clean water system was installed; they were fed nutritious meals at school, encouraged, taught self-respect and self-confidence, given warm clothing, given hope. Over time, people heard or read of Nyaka and sent what monies they could; others donated time and services. Twesigye never gave up and by the time the first class graduated from Nyaka primary school, there was money for them to continue in secondary schools. Of course, this is a dynamic story; it has a beginning but not an end. The challenges continue, but this book is one way to educate and inform all of us. The power of one....yet again.
www.nyakaschool.org or www.thepriceofstones. com
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