"This is a remarkable story about how Twesigye Jackson Kaguri transformed his suffering-the loss of several of his family members to AIDS-into action. Kaguri is a wonderful example of one person using educational success responsibly and with purpose to benefit the lives of those less fortunate. If you've ever doubted your ability to impact the lives of others, read this story and it will change your mind and heart."
- Ishmael Beah, author A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Twesigye Jackson Kaguri defied many naysayers--and his own nagging doubts--as he and a small group of supporters followed his dream to build, stone by stone at times, a school for AIDS orphans in his village in Uganda.

Growing up in southwestern Uganda on his family's small farm, working long hours for his taskmaster father, Kaguri was fortunate that his parents were barely able to afford tuition and school fees. He excelled, won a place at the national university, and became a visiting scholar in the Human Rights Advocacy Program at Columbia University in New York. When he returned to Uganda with his wife, they were overwhelmed by the many people lined up outside his family's door to ask for help, many struggling to raise the children of relatives who had died of AIDS. Having lost two siblings to AIDS, and as the guardian of his brother's children, Jackson impulsively vowed to open the first tuition-free school for orphans. Seeing the line at his parents' door, he wondered, "What about the children with no uncle? Who will take care of them? It was that day I decided I must help."

A graduate student and newlywed living in the United States, Kaguri faced almost insurmountable obstacles: little money; the opposition of his father and many villagers to a school for children who are often shunned because of the disease that claimed their parents’ lives; the skepticism of many about donating money to projects in Africa; the corruption of school inspectors; and the overwhelming needs of the children. Yet Jackson doggedly built one schoolroom at a time with the aid of many supporters in Uganda, America, and Canada, and with the sustenance of his strong religious conviction. Along the way, he experienced many triumphs as well: a friend offered a blueprint for just such a school, developed as a graduate-school project; a retired teacher volunteered her time as the school's first principal; villagers donated stones and other building material; and when Kaguri had lost all hope of raising money, a friend pledged or a call came from a local church, and eventually grants were obtained. And of course the greatest triumph has been seeing shy, undernourished children blossom into confident young scholars.

In his lecture, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri tells the stirring story behind the founding of the Nyaka AIDS Orphans School. Weaving together tales from his youth with the enormously inspiring account of building the school stone by stone, Kaguri shows how one person with a modest idea is capable of achieving monumental results. With remarkable determination, Kaguri has pursued a seemingly impossible dream and in the process transformed many lives, including his own.

Praise for THE PRICE OF STONES
by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri with Susan Urbanek Linville

"The Price of Stones is an inspiring account of turning tragedy into hope for others.”
- President Jimmy Carter

"This is a remarkable story about how Twesigye Jackson Kaguri transformed his suffering—the loss of several of his family members to AIDS—into action. Kaguri is a wonderful example of one person using educational success responsibly and with purpose to benefit the lives of those less fortunate. If you’ve ever doubted your ability to impact the lives of others, read this story and it will change your mind and heart.”
- Ishmael Beah, author A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

"Many Americans feel disconnected from the AIDS pandemic occurring on a continent so far away. Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, in his inspirational book The Price of Stones, shortens that distance, making the effects of this disease personal by giving names and faces to AIDS orphans. But more significantly, many of Uganda's discarded children have been given hope and, even more important, love as students at the Nyaka AIDS Orphans School. Twesigye Jackson's life illustrates beautifully that one person can make a difference. — Ron Hall, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Same Kind of Different as Me

"By page 23, I was hooked. By page 33, I had tears in my eyes, the first of many times as I read this impassioned account of one man’s humble yet courageous efforts in confronting the grim legacy of the ruthless serial killer AIDS in his Ugandan village. If The Price of Stones doesn't break your heart over the plight of AIDS orphans in Africa, see a cardiologist immediately. You may need a transplant."
— Lynn Vincent, New York Times bestselling writer of Same Kind of Different as Me and Going Rogue: An American Life

"By creating a school for AIDS orphans in a remote region of southwestern Uganda, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri answered the question 'And who is my neighbor?' By telling his story with clarity and passion, he makes his neighbors ours as well."
— Senator John C. Danforth, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

"This book shows that you can build a solid educational foundation for the future of Africa’s children at the price of stones. Immensely inspiring."
— Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Harvard Kennedy School

"A chronicle of the humanitarian efforts by a Ugandan native schooled in the West, addressing poverty and the ravages of AIDS in Africa ... a moving journey of turning beliefs into actions."
— Kirkus Reviews

"Anecdotes about the students, the author's family-his own brother and sister died from the disease-and his dealings with donors and corrupt officials, reveal Kaguri to be at once vulnerable and ferociously determined. Written in simple, straightforward style, the book is an affecting and accessible tribute to the difference one person can make in the world."
— Publishers Weekly

Kaguri's "story is an uplifting testament to the belief that one motivated individual can accomplish much, even when others have given up before even trying."
— Booklist

"[An] unforgettable memoir"
— The Christian Science Monitor