The Price of Stones by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri.

In our previous life, we went to the zoo nearly every week.  The San Diego Zoo is home to well over 3,000 animals and covers 100 acres so even though we visited often, we were able to have new and unique experiences each time.


Throughout the zoo there are little green signs with quotes on them.  My favorite of these was the one that shared a quote from Edmund Burke.  It read:


Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.


I fell in love with this quote because I believe in it so much.  The notion of everyone on this earth doing a little to help out is one of my life philosophies.  I believe in the power of a little helping a lot.


This notion of a little helping a lot is the principle theory behind Twesigye Jackson Kaguri's The Price of Stones: Building a School for my Village.  But what started as a little quickly became far, far more than that.


Kaguri was born and raised in a remote Ugandan village.  The book opens with Kaguri making the trip home to his village and he writes so vividly that I felt I was there.  I could so clearly envision his path - the crossing down in to the jungle valley, to the precarious bridge and rising up the steep far side.  I could picture his village and the lines of neighbors and friends who lined up outside Kaguri's family's home in hopes of speaking with Kaguri and his brother about their struggles.


In The Price of Stones, Kaguri tells of how HIV and AIDS is ravaging his village and his country.  The disease knows no boundaries and reaches in with it's cruel hand and plucks men, women, and children - babies included - from their families and their lives.  Kaguri's family suffers its own entanglement with AIDS and he is forever shaped by his loss.


But what becomes of the children orphaned by AIDS?  Who watches over them?  Who will see to it that they are fed and sheltered and, of equal importance, who will see to it that they are offered a formal education?


Kaguri sees these concerns and feels them deep in his great, big heart.  What follows is the almost unbelievably inspirational story of a man with a undeterrable dream to build a school for the orphans in his village.


Through huge financial and personal setbacks as well as building permit struggles, Kaguri never waivers, never stumbles.  The Price of Stones is an exceptional tale of how one person truly can have a huge impact, if only he has the heart and will to see it through.