A Good Trade

In a small Ugandan village, Kato wakes early to start the long barefoot trek beyond his village and along fields dotted with cattle and guarded by soldiers. As it is every day, his destination is the village well, where he will pump a day's supply of water into two jerry cans before trudging home again. But this is no ordinary day. The aid worker's truck arrives at the village square, and in the back is a gift so special, the little boy rushes home to look for something to repay the aid worker.

Alma Fullerton's spare, lilting prose tells a deceptively simple story of one day in a little boy's life. But in a place ravaged by a generation of civil war and drought, a village well brings life, a gift of shoes is a cause for celebration, and a simple flower becomes an eloquent symbol of peace and gratitude.