Nov 27 2007
My father Sylvestre Mburanumwe
Last month I blogged about why I became a Ranger and I talked about the influence of my father, Sylvestre Mburanumwe. At that time I didn’t have a picture of my father. But now I do!
Sylvestre Mburanumwe, born 1947
He has been a Ranger since 1968, mainly in the southern sector of Virunga National Park in the Gorilla Sector and other places like Kibati. He has been head of the Bikenge patrol post in the Gorilla Sector for a year, and before that he was head of the Jomba patrol post in the Gorilla Sector for 14 years. There are 5 patrol posts in total in the Gorilla Sector.
Me & my father at Rumangabo 10 days ago
He was one of the first Rangers here to work on the habituation of Mountain Gorillas in 1985 with Conrad Aveling. First he was part of the team habituating the Rugendo family, and that took about 2 1/2 years. He also worked with the Rugabo family, who took only 6 months to be habituated.
My father is currently evacuated from his patrol post because of the fighting. Today the situation has calmed, but for the last few days it has not been good and security has worsened because of fighting between the army and rebels.
Innocent
Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect
Daily news from the conservation frontline by Innocent and Diddy, and other Congolese rangers risking their lives to save mountain gorillas of the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Good to hear from you Innocent..been worried about what was going on…I am sure you and your father are both so proud of each others accomplishments with the gorillas…I think it is so wonderful that he helps in protecting them..he is still actively doing work? Wow…God bless you both and thank you for doing what you can each day to bring hope to all animals! Especially my favorite..the gorillas!
Wonderful pics and I am sure your father has watched so very much happen to his favorite gorillas over the years he could not tell all the happy and tragic stories-it is him and men like you that have fought the fight to keep them in the mountains where they belong! Thank you from the deepest place in my heart!
Nice to hear from you, Innocent! I so admire the dedication to wildlife and conservation of men such as yourself and your father. How exciting it must have been to be part of the first habituation efforts - maybe your father could tell us all about that experience some time.
s.
It’s so great to get to know you and your family members. Your father looks fit and well. Keep your spirits up and continue making plans for next year. You and the gorillas are in my thoughts every single day!
The two of you look so happy together. It is wonderful the two of you share the same passion for the gorillas. I am glad to hear fighting has calmed… now if it would stay that way. When do you think it will be safe for visitors to come to the park again? Are there any visitors at all? I would love to visit one day. What kind of training did you and your father go through to become rangers? Just curious :O)
Stay well!
~Mary
Thanks for sharing about your father. I’m sorry to hear he is evacuated. It sounds like he has done a lot of great work. I think it is interesting that one gorilla family only took 6 months to habituate and the other took 2.5 years.
I heard a report on NPR this morning out of Goma on the fighting there. I think it would be a great humanitarian story to cover the displace rangers. I’ve emailed them once with the story idea. I will email them again today. Maybe others might want to do the same.
One fact I would like to include in my email to NPR is regarding how the rangers are paid. I want to include the fact that rangers get some pay from donations. Can you tell me roughly what percent that is and where the rest of that funding comes from. I think the fact that donations pay part of the rangers salary could be an interesting part of the story.
Innocent, that is a wonderful picture of you and your father. Thank you for sharing it. Stay safe and strong. Lisa
Hi Innocent & Sylvester:
it’s great to see you…I was 1 of the first tourists to come to Djomba in 1987 under FZS/Conrad. I came with Rwanda Tours and stayed for a week in the FZS gite. I have pictures of your father and I think of you when you were very young… I hope to come back to visit when the fighting settles down. I want to get up to Kabara to Carl Akeley’s grave and would very much like to see you all once again. Keep up the great work you are doing with your families and our gorilla friends. Hopefully 2008 will see some peace for you all..
Best…Phil Sirois/USA
Innocent,
So glad to hear you are holding up. Its great to see 2 generations of heroes. Hopefully Phil can post some of those pic’s he has of your dad and you when you were young being as you said you didn’t have any pics of him till now. It would be cool to see pic’s of you as a child. I see the resemblance in you and your dad.
Hope your family is doing well.
Wishing you peace and love,
Debbie
Phil what a small world..I think that is so awesome that you got to go visit…
Hi Innocent and Sylvester, wonderful pictures of you both. Hope all of your families are doing well and the fighting will soon cease so you can bring hope and safety to the gorillas. You are all in my prayers every day.
Stay safe.
Peace and love
xx Yvonne
Phil, that’s so intresting, send us your photos to post on this site…
hello phil
Plaise send pictures to me!I would like to see them.Send them to info at wildlifedirect.org
top man,peace
Hi Innocent & Sylvester:
I have many photos of your dad when he took me alone and with a group to see the marcel group….i also went to the oscar group once… I’m sorting thru my slides and will send them soon…. I also produced 2 mt. gorilla documentaries so i have video of djomba, your dad, marcel & ocsar group etc…. will send some photos soon… my video docs part 1 is on carl akeley and mt. gorilla history and another part 2 is on Rwanda’s Karisoke Research Center and efforts today. I won USA national awards for these in 2002 & 2003. Maybe i can bring you dvd copies of these in 2008 and we can meet again/ keep up the great work…hi to slyvester…ask him if he remembers I gave him mt. gorilla patch from the national zoo here in DC… it was a long time ago but is fresh in my mind…. bless you all for your dedication over the years….
best, phil sirois
The Bonobos are losing on http://www.searchkindly.org. They are trailing way behind. Rember that you can vote from the same computer if you use a different browser.
Innocent,
You must be so proud of your father. Thanks for sharing! Also, how awesome it is that he is so vividly remembered here.
Angela, the Bonobos are winning now. Yeehaw!
Hi Innocent, its lovely to hear about year father, you must be very proud.
Very nice pictures. Keep voting for Bonobos everyone, I’ve voted this morning (9.02 UK time) and they are only very slightly ahead x
Thanks Phil for the update. Innocent has just left the office and the connection was not good today. But just wanted to say I work closely with Diddy and Innocent and am looking forward to seeing the photos. Please email me at the info address if you need help on where to send anything. Samantha
Hi Samantha, Innocent & Sylvester:
The chef de poste touristique in djomba in 1987 was Mburanumwe Ntamunulira Sylvester…I checked my diary and it sure is sylvester…have lots of photos of sylvester and video…I visited Djomba from new year’s day 1988 to about a week later…he took me to make video & slides for 2 days with marcel group…. My guide for the oscar group was Murasira Oswald….I have located the pix and am pretty sure i have photos of Innocent & other children in djomba…we made friends while I was there…. My rwanda guide was Ramon Ramadhan from Rwanda Tours….Conrad Aveling will remember me as well he was in my first mt. gorilla documentary…everyone in djomba was very kind to me as this was my first trip to africa…. I often wondered how the family was after all the fighting near djomba… I am really happy to hear you are well despite the difficult times….
Do you have a internet FTTP site that you can download video clips…. if so send me an address: I may be able to send a few of sylvester and djomba families…. but I will send still photos to your info section at wildlife direct soon….
keep up the great work you all are doing…people around the world really do care!!!
best and hope to see you all in Virunga in 2008
phil sirois
Good to hear from you Innocent. Thank you so much for sharing the pictures of your father. Really enjoy
hearing about you and your families.
Sure wish I was closer. Good luck, take care and stay safe.
Hi Samantha, Innocent and Sylvester:
Sent photos of djomba 1988 with sylvester and possibly Innocent to info section of your site today…. let me know when you get them…
stay safe…be well
best, phil sirois
would like to get in contact with phil sirois
To Marshall Riggin> I’m in Portland and my e/mail is:ngagicam@hotmail.com
give me a holler marshall…like to catch up
phil
[…] and my father, Sylvestre Mburanumwe. In 1988 there were not many visitors to DR Congo to see gorillas. People still did not know if […]