There are around 1000 mountain gorillas in the world, of which 459 were living in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda at the time of the last census. They rely on the villagers who live in the remote areas high in the mountains around Bwindi. Commat applied for funding to help the women in one of these villages, Nkuringo, by providing water tanks (as they have to walk 2 hours each way down the mountain to fetch water in the dry season, keeping their children out of school to help) and sewing machines and pigs for income-generation. While the project was short-listed, the funding (£50,000 ($61,000) over 2 years) was lost as part of the UK official development assistance (ODA) cuts.
The gorillas have, therefore, decided to help in raising awareness of the needs of the women in Nkuringo, while telling something about themselves. They have therefore started the Gorilla gazette and invite you to learn more about them and the women in Nkuringo. Kabukojo, a very handsome silverback male, has written the first two issues.