Gorilla

Five Congolese women travel to India in their quest to protect the endangered gorillas.

On Monday, I took part in something amazing. I helped five illiterate Congolese women, all of whom are grandmothers, head off on an amazing journey to India. The women, who are from four villages on the edge of the Virungas National Park are taking part in a unique project that will help them to lift their villages out of poverty and in doing so relieve the human pressure on the national park that is threatening the precious gorillas.

The women are taking part in a joint project between the Gorilla Organization and the Barefoot College in India. They will spend six months in India learning everything there is to know about solar technology. They will become electricians, ambassadors, experts and life-savers. When they return to their villages in DRC they will set up solar panels in the village that will for the first time ever bring electricity and light to these poverty stricken communities. They will maintain the solar panels and train others in everything that they have learnt.

Bringing electricity to a village goes a long way to reduce poverty. Families will no longer be restricted to work during daylight hours. They will be able to cook food in the evening whereas before this would have been difficult due to lack of light, meaning they can spend longer tending their farms during the day. Electricity will also open up a whole host of new opportunities for the community. All these things help families become self sufficient and help them earn an income, which means they will no longer be tempted to use the gorilla habitat as a supplement to their needs. The village gets electricity and the gorillas remain undisturbed in their forest home.

On Saturday, the women said emotional but uplifting goodbyes to their families. I was invited to one of the villages to take part in the celebrations and watched as families danced and cheered to mark the start of this exciting journey. These women have never left their villages before let alone go on a plane and leave the country. From the villages the women gathered in Goma where they were met by the governor of the province of North Kivu, Julien Paluku Kahongya.

(Saying goodbye!)

From Goma, Henry (the Gorilla Organization’s DRC programme manager) and myself took the ladies to Kigali airport and helped them board the plane to India. What an exciting adventure they are embarking on and what a difference they are making to their villages and to our cousins the gorillas.

(All ready to go!Good bye to the Provincial Minister of Environnment )

I hope to keep you updated on the women’s progress in India.