Why This AIDS Champion Is Conflicted About World AIDS Day

Twesigye Jackson Kaguri, in the blue t-shirt on the roof, helps build a home for a grandmother supported by his HIV/AIDS nonprofit in rural Uganda.

Matt Stauble

When Twesigye Jackson Kaguri started a HIV/AIDS nonprofit in his native Uganda in 2001, he didn’t know what World AIDS Day was.

Then Dec. 1 came around, and he quickly figured it out.

Other AIDS groups were organizing walks, marches and fundraisers on Dec. 1. They were raising money and raising awareness. So he thought to himself: “Oh my God, we are missing out.” Should his group, Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, join in, too?