Introduction
In the book, a School for My Village: A Promise to the Orphans of Nyaka, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, and Susan Urbanek Linville inspires the world to fight the HIV/AIDS scourge. Besides being an epidemic more so in the developing countries, HIV/AIDS has led to poverty, especially among children who lose their parents at a tender age. Inspired by the suffering and struggle of orphaned children in his rural area, Twesigye vows to fight against stigmatization by not only opening a free school but also by offering the children free basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing.
Twesigye intertwines his personal experiences as a youth with obstacles that he faces during his mission to build the school to construct an explicit book. Therefore, the next discussion does not only give a summary of the major events in the story but also enlightens the world on the theme of poverty.
Exposition of the story
Brought up in the western part of Uganda, Twesigye comes to face poverty and struggle amid a dictatorial government; thus, giving an exposition of the socioeconomic picture of his community. Twesigye opens up his book by focusing on hunger, deteriorating health, and lack of education his people experience. Despite most of the people in his community practicing agriculture, only a few able people like Frank had the compassion to assist the poor.
Bananas, beans, and cassava are some of the farm products cultivated on a large scale. His characters include his father, Frank, who is a philanthropist, poor women, and children who are struggling to access funds for education and food. However, the gap between the poor and the rich was always visible. Among his characters, Twesigye expounds on a domineering father who, despite struggling to educate his children, advocates for demeaning cultural practices like early marriages and no extensive education for girls. Therefore, in his exposition, Twesigye, as the narrator, first introduces children who are malnourished due to poverty. Secondly, he sheds light on the inability of children to attend school due to cultural practices, economic obstacles, and HIV/AIDS scourge.
Complications in the story
The need to fight against poverty puts pressure on Twesigye to work hard in school and pursue higher education. However, due to his decision to pursue further education, complications arise because his father is against it. Besides his father and grandmother insisting on him to marry at the tender age of 12 years, he must also be available to work on the farms during weekends. Thus, he has to attend a nearby school to be able to work on the farm during weekends. Surprisingly, his father declines to educate his sister further, therefore, prompting her to take up a teaching career in the local environment.
Nonetheless, Twesigye escapes from home to pursue further education at the university level; therefore, descending on a step that opposes his father’s domineering attitude. Furthermore, his decision to pursue higher education without his father’s consent relieves him from the pressure of early marriage. On his way to Nyakagyezi, Twesigye gives the picture of poverty (rugged roads, poorly constructed shelters, and uncultivated farms, among others), which arises from not only HIV/AIDS but also from the poor leadership in Uganda at that time.
In addition, he experiences discrimination against HIV/AIDS because one of the passengers (who sat next to him) calls anything from HIV/AIDS victim as a ‘devils hand.’ Nevertheless, with self-determination, Twesigye sees the disease as an epidemic, which has contributed to poverty.
The climax of the events
Embraced with education as a humanitarian working in the USA, how does Twesigye assists his village where the scourge of HIV/AIDS is at its peak? Due to the poor perception about HIV/AIDS, many children lost their parents while others were born with the disease. However, the government did very little to alleviate poverty. Consequently, the elderly people took over the parenting responsibilities. Unfortunately, the task of educating, feeding and health care remained a challenge to this old folks.
On the other hand, stigmatization was the main obstacle HIV/AIDS orphans faced. Twesigye vows to establish an educational centre for his village. Nevertheless, besides lack of funds he has to fight against corrupt government officials and manipulative greed community leaders. Secondly, Twesigye has to disobey his domineering father who lacks humanity for the poor and the weird cultural practices, which not only undermine the girl child but also sees them as a source of wealth. At this level, greed and disease are the major factors, which underscore the theme of poverty.
Resolution and conclusion of the conflicting events
Eventually, with assistance from donors from the USA, Canada and Uganda together with his wife, Twesigye establishes a school in his village, Nyaka. Besides providing education, the school also provides basic needs to the pupils. Water and better health care are the essential aspects Twesigye struggles to accomplish. Therefore, Twesigye does not only fight to come out of poverty but also ensures all the orphans in his village including his relatives access better educations.
Finally, the major achievement of Twesigye’s project was when his first group of students graduated. With the establishment of a second school at Katamba Twesigye mission to fight poverty amid HIV/AIDS scourge is bearing fruits. His intriguing book has attracted humanitarian assistance from USA and Canada. He has raised hope among children who lived in abject poverty because some of them do not only see a bright future but also work hard to defeat other well-established schools. The caretakers of orphaned children especially grandmothers at least have a reason to smile. As a director of the project and the schools, Twesigye is both an inspiration and role model to children and other people who have the ability to fight poverty in Africa.
Setting and theme of the book
Set in the rural areas in the western part of Uganda, the book a School for My Village: A Promise to the Orphans of Nyaka is a recent intriguing story that came into limelight in the 21st century (published in 2011). Twesigye stories dates back in the mid to the late 1980s when he was a young boy. Twesigye draws the picture of his father, who loves the local brew thus, motivating him to beat his mother.
Authentically, Twesigye focuses social, economic and political development in Uganda. Consequently, through the description of the socioeconomic picture of his region, Twesigye explicitly highlights the theme of poverty that engulfs his people. Although some people are rich in his area, the essence of greed, corruption, disease and poor leadership underlies the social development of the poor people in the same region.
Through his vivid description, Twesigye mainly focuses on the theme of poverty, which arises from the high cases HIV/AIDS deaths in Uganda. For instance, at the beginning of the book, he gives cases where children lack food thus, looking malnourished while others walk in tattered clothes. For example, he writes, “it was 1989 we had no electricity, no water, minimal healthcare and unaffordable education (Twesigye and Linville 5-7). Some children wore shorts only. His own father did not specialize in buying clothes and therefore, most of his family members had to walk with torn clothes. Due to the aforementioned flaws in his home area, Twesigye developed an urge to help his people thus, struggling to pursue education.
Personal perception on the book
Personally, the move by Twesigye to enlighten the world on the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa is a good step; he takes in fighting the epidemic. Most Africans who secure jobs in the USA forget about their homeland but Twesigye is an extraordinary man who is not ashamed of his background thus, motivating others to follow his footsteps. Some few insights in the book show that Twesigye is against poverty, which had forced young girls into early marriages.
This is a step, which parents or relatives used to acquire wealth. Consequently, girls did not access education while others died from HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, child labor was common as it is the case with Twesigye himself (Twesigye and Linville 23).
Other children ran to town and specialized in hawking activities and prostitution thus, promoting HIV/AIDS. More over, two of his siblings had died from HIV/AIDS thus, leaving him with the role of parenting yet he had no enough funds to take care of them. According to Twesigye the burden of HIV/AIDS in Africa has contributed to the increased level of poverty among households. Therefore, Twesigye does not only shed light on poverty in his home area but also in Africa thus, attracting humanitarian groups to assist in fighting the scourge.
USA in relation to the book
Twesigye’s book relates to the USA where he secured his higher education. Secondly, is through his settlement in the USA that Twesigye was able to pull enough funds to establish schools in his region. Thirdly, Twesigye’s book relates to the USA whereby health care seems challenging for the government to implement. Currently, the USA is struggling to implement a healthcare policy that adequately covers all the citizens.
According to economist and health experts, most citizens lack health insurance due to high cost of living. Similarly, 19.3% of children especially from poor households lack medical cover scheme because of the increased premium rates and cost of living (Roehr a889). Intuitively, if provision of health care is still a problem in the USA, then a worldwide epidemic like HIV/AIDS affects most of the poor households. Consequently, accessibility to better education, food and water may also remain a challenge to the affected people. Therefore, similar cases as those highlighted by Twesigye may arise in developed nations like the USA.
Critical analysis of the book proves that most people are not ready to paint their home areas as poor but this bold step can change the lives of many children. In the contemporary USA, provision for healthcare is a business venture and not on humanitarian grounds. Therefore, while the insurance companies aspire to collect huge profits, the government is unable to establish a policy in order to control the vice. Eventually, the poor people suffer.
In conclusion, Twesigye highlights the prospects that motivated him to establish free educational centers in his village. Affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS, culture and subsequently the increasing cases of orphans, Twesigye pursues further education in the USA where he establishes his career. He returns home to fight poverty by providing education, food, clothing and water for orphans. Personally, I see Twesigye as a motivation to rich people and corrupt government officials to fight against poverty (HIV/AIDS). Finally, a comparison of the book to the debatable health care system in the U.S.A shows that poverty is a worldwide problem that people should rise to fight.
Works Cited
Roehr, Bob. “Health care in US ranks lowest among developed countries.” British Medical Journal 337.1 (2008): a889. Print.
Twesigye, Jackson and Linville, Susan. A school for my village: a promise to the orphans of Nyaka. USA: Penguin publishers, 2011. Print.
Twesigye, Jackson and Linville, Susan. Building a school for my village: the price of stones. USA: Viking adult press, 2010. Print.