How did we get here?

In the summer of 2005, David Pigott, a Professor of History at  Brigham Young University-Idaho, travelled to Uganda to witness the construction of a library at Nkumba University in Uganda, which, in part, was built to house the many books he and his students had regularly collected and sent to the university.  While there, Dr. Pigott received his own education about the needs of the people there and the unique challenges they face.

Dr. Pigott returned in 2007 to make a documentary film about the effects that westernization and globalization have on native Ugandan communities (see clip below). While visiting a refugee camp in Gulu, he met a young man named Denis Ayella.  Denis followed Dr. Pigott and his cameraman around the camp until they agreed to interview him.  You can see a portion of this interview below.  Denis is an exceptional young man who has suffered, like many others, unspeakable hardship in his young life.  When Dr. Pigott met Denis, he was living in the refugee camp and receiving no education.  Dr. Pigott found a school in Gulu that would take Denis as a student, and he has been paying Denis's school fees for the past few years.

It is really Denis who has challenged Dr. Pigott to find kind and willing people in his community who could sponsor other children.  Denis has gathered photos and letters from hundreds of other children in the refugee camp who would like to be able to attend school but for whom school fees are more than they could ever afford.  Dr. Pigott would like to honor Denis and his selfless desire to give other children the same opportunity he has had by offering this challenge to those of us in the West and other relatively wealthy countries: As we examine our lives and review our good fortune, do we have enough to spare for the education of one child?