The Agony of a Rising Star
The book The Agony of a Rising Star by Aggrey Wunyi, an undersecretary with the Judicial Service Commission, is out.
The 82-page book is set in Luuka County, then a part of Iganga District. Luuka has since been elevated to a district in its own right.
This is the story of Bogo, whose father abandons the home after a famine breaks out in most parts of Uganda shortly after the 1979 war, leaving the family to live off the earnings of their mother, a primary school teacher in a Catholic mission school.
Life is tough. Bogo’s mother has to scrimp like never before, but there is simply never enough to provide for the family. It is a life of deprivation.
In order to wriggle itself out of the situation, the family turns itself into a workforce. Bogo and his siblings have to collect water and firewood and put in a shift in the garden before making the 2km journey to school. They are barefooted and often clad in threadbare or torn garments.
With corporal punishment the order of the day, the often thread bear garment is dealt further damage whenever he runs afoul of teachers who ruthlessly apply the cane on his little buttocks.
Universal primary and secondary education have not been introduced so parents have to pay for the children’s education. It would have been difficult for Bogo’s mother to pay for her children’s education, but thanks his braininess, Bogo is able to occasionally earn annual bursaries, which relieve the pressure on his mother’s finances.
Thanks to heavy investments in the water and sanitation sector, water coverage has increased from about 20 per cent in the 1980s, rising to about 43 per cent in the 1990s and about 63 per cent in 2008. Water springs in almost every parish have been protected and boreholes sunk. Those who are growing up in the villages today have seemingly unlimited access to clean water.
Not so for Bogo. His was a tale of waking up as early as 5am to access the only water source that humans shared with animals in the village.
“The water would change colour from muddy grey to sparkling clear water, depending on the time one went,” Bogo says in his narrative.
For most of those who grew up in towns and or in the villages in recent times, the 82-page book story of Bogo might come across as outlandish, but it is the reality for most of the folk in the villages and resonates with them.
In The Agony of a Rising Star Mr Aggrey Wunyi is speaking to those who grew up in privilege, reminding them that there is another side to life and that it can be tough.
He is at the same time talking to those like him who grew up surrounded by poverty, but somehow managed to make something meaningful out of themselves. It is a story of hope and one that will certainly inspire those who are struggling to make something of themselves.
To borrow a line from the speech then president-elect Barack Obama gave following his victory in the November 2008 US election, if there is anyone out there who still doubts that Uganda is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if dreams come alive, The Agony of a Rising Star is your answer.
Title: The Agony of a Rising Star
Author: Aggrey Wunyi
Pages: 82
Where to buy: Choma Fest Restaurant at Centenary Park, Kampala
Price: Shs30,000
Reviewed by: Isaac Mufumba
