Gorilla gazette - Issue 6

Welcome to Gorilla gazette!

Postings from the gorilla inhabitants of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in Western Uganda.

Well, hello and welcome to the latest issue of the Gorilla gazette… My name is Christmas, and I bet you know why. Yes, I was born on 25 December 2001, so I am 20 years old. And my family is called Xmas, being named after yours truly. Don’t you think I have a very fine silver back, which is very appropriate, of course.

We live in the Nkuringo southern sector of Bwindi and we have split from the Nkuringo family. At the moment it’s not fully decided as to who is part of which family, as we keep grabbing from one another. Just like humans, I do believe. 

Both families are sort of neighbours to the NCENT women’s organization in the village. And, we are very pleased that you have been helping them, as they help take care of us. 

I know you all, particularly the Ladies, just love babies and that you enjoyed seeing this picture of the latest arrival in the Mukiza family to Twijukye. I will try to make sure that you are kept informed of the baby’s progress. 

As you can imagine, here in Bwindi, there are vets that kept a watching eye to make sure that the mothers have easy births and that the young are fit and healthy. The women in the village are not so lucky, as there is no Health Centre there, but the village chiefs and the men, as well as the women, help women when they are pregnant as much as they can. Women are encouraged to go to a waiting home about a month before they are due to give birth. 

When there is an emergency, the men carry the women eight km to the nearest health centre. Now I know that this isn’t the greatest video clip, because I didn’t take it, but it shows what it’s like for the women.

Sometimes, I think we are very lucky, being taken care of by the teams of experts, trackers and rangers here in Bwindi. And, we thank you for taking care of the NCENT women by supporting Commat in providing water tanks, sewing machines etc.. We are doing our bit in telling you about our lives and those of our human friends. We want them to have healthy babies just like ours and this little fella, Rwigyi’s baby who is 18 months old, says it all.

Please help the women and children of Nkuringo by making a donation to the Commonwealth Medical Trust;

THE COMMONWEALTH MEDICAL TRUST

Lloyds Bank plc
SORT CODE: 30-94-97
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 00988751
IBAN: GB40LOYD30949700988751
BIC: LOYDGB21029

For additional options please contact us directly at gorillas@commat.org