Moyoni, one of the Solar Sisters, was delighted to receive her new equipment

Hi, this is Tuver,

As Henry explained last week, we’ve just taken delivery of the equipment our Solar Sisters need to bring power to their villages for the first time. As you can imagine, things are more than a little hectic here right now, but everybody is so excited, not least the ladies themselves who are itching to put the skills they learned over in India to good use.

As you can see from these latest pictures, news of our work is spreading across Africa. Over the past few days, I’ve spoken to the national and regional media about what this delivery will mean to some of the poorest villages in this part of Africa. As I explained to them, by having a reliable source of electricity, people will be able to work and study for longer, allowing them to earn more money that they can spend on food and education. It’s also very good news indeed for the gorillas living alongside these villages as they will be left in peace now that people will no longer have to enter the national park for food and fuel.

So, here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. Just look how excited the ladies are. As Henry said, we’ll do our best to keep you up to date with the project, and on behalf of us all and the ladies themselves, I’d like to thank you for your generous support, without which none of this would be possible…

Here's Moyoni again, checking out the equipment she will use to bring power to her home village

Here's Henry helping unload the solar power equipment from the lorry

News of the delivery travelled fast. Here I am talking to the reporters about the project!

Here I am welcoming the delivery of the equipment for our incredible Solar Sisters

Hi, this is Henry,

I am writing with some very happy news from here in Goma.

As you may recall, at the end of 2010, the Gorilla Organization sent five Congolese grandmothers over to the Barefoot College in India. Here, despite the fact that all but one of them is illiterate and none of them had ever set foot outside of their home villages before, they trained to become solar power engineers.

Well, now they are back home and about to get the equipment they need to bring electricity to their villages for the very first time! As you can see from the picture below, I personally went along to welcome the lorry carrying $100,000 worth of solar power technology to Goma.

Once it’s been released by customs, we’ll get to work distributing it to our ‘Solar Sisters’, and they will then get busy bringing renewable power to their home communities. By having a reliable source of electricity for the first time, people living in these tiny villages will be able to work and study for longer, easing the burden of poverty and meaning they will be steadily less reliant on the forests that they live alongside, thereby leaving giving the endangered gorillas here the space and peace they need to thrive. How’s that for a good start to 2012?

Of course, I’ll be sure to keep you updated as the Solar Sisters get to work, so watch this space!

The new equipment means the Solar Sisters will be able to put their skills to use

Lava is shooting hundreds of metres into the air right next to the gorillas' home

Hi, this is Tuver,

We’re used to volcanic eruptions in this part of DR Congo. After all, we live in the shadow of eight active volcanoes, seven of them situated within the borders of the Virunga National Park. As such, once it became apparent that the current eruption of Mount Nyamulagira wouldn’t lead to a repeat of 2002, when lava from neighbouring Nyiragongo flowed into Goma and destroyed thousands of homes as well as our old Resource Centre, people just got on with their lives.

Thankfully, just as we’re used to the volcanoes, so too are the gorillas. They’ve been hearing rumblings all their lives, so this latest eruption, even though it’s only happening around ten miles away from the closest groups, is not causing them much alarm.

In fact, the eruption could be good news for wildlife here. Tourists are flocking to this side of the National Park to get a good view of the lava. This means they’re spending money here, benefitting communities and enhancing DR Congo’s reputation as a tourist destination.

Here are a few photos I managed to take of Mount Nyiragongo over the past few days…

The power of the volcano really is something to behold

Gorillas are living just a few miles from where the lava is flowing, but they are safe

Here is a picture from the meeting. From left to right you can see: Emmanuel, our Rwandan Programme Manager, Sam, our Ugandan Programme Manager and Henry, our Congolese Programme Manager, and Jillian Miller, our Executive Director

Hi, this is Tuver,

I’ve just got back to Goma after going to Kampala to attend the Gorilla Organization’s annual strategy meeting. As always, it was great to catch up with my colleagues from other countries and talk about how our respective projects are helping transform communities and safeguard gorillas. It’s really inspiring to see everyone working towards a common goal and to see how your generous support is helping make a real difference in Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo.

Joined by our director Jillian Miller, we began the meeting discussing what we have achieved over the past 12 months and it was clear from listening to my colleagues that our conservation and poverty reduction projects have continued to meet, and in some cases even exceed, their targets.

We also talked about our plans for the year ahead. We are hoping to implement more than 20 projects across the three countries in 2012, all of them geared towards helping both the gorillas and the people who live alongside their forest home. Activities supported will include beekeeping in Kisoro, Uganda, conservation radio programmes in Goma, DR Congo and agricultural training in Rwanda.

It’ll certainly be a busy, and hopefully a highly-productive, year! I look forward to keeping you updated with news on our work here in Africa and thank you for your ongoing support.

Radio head: Here I am picking up my broadcasting award

Hi, this is Tuver,

As many of you may know, as well as keeping you up to speed with the Gorilla Organization’s work on the frontline of gorilla conservation through this blog, I also produce and broadcast our own radio show – Cosmos, Our World.

First broadcast in 1999, this is a great way to communicate with people living across eastern DRC, as well as in neighbouring parts of Uganda and Rwanda, and to discuss issues relating to the environment and gorilla conservation in particular. This is a project I’m really passionate about and so you can imagine my delight when I found out that the show had been named as the best programme for education for 2010-2011 by the Kivu Business & Tours Agency. What’s more, I was named ‘Best Presenter’, which is quite an achievement given that there are more than a dozen stations broadcasting here in Goma right now!

This award shows just how well regarded our outreach work is. The judges recognised that we’re slowly but surely transforming the local attitude to conservation by demonstrating to people how, by protecting the gorillas and their habitat, they can also improve their own livelihoods. For example, in recent programmes I’ve talked to representatives of ICCN (the Congolese Wildlife Authority), who told listeners that 30% of the money raised through gorilla tourism permits get put back into communities, while we also broadcast from the Kwita Izina gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda, illustrating just how valuable gorillas can be to a national economy.

Now we’ve just started broadcasting eight shows a month, on two different stations, so let’s hope more and more people living on the edge of the gorillas’ protected home come to realise that it’s in their best interest to protect their endangered cousins!

Here’s a few pictures of the radio show in action…

Telling communities about the benefits of gorilla tourism is something I have a passion for

Getting communities involved with the radio programme is key to its success

Here I am interviewing rangers working on the frontline of gorilla conservation

The Nkwenda health centre is one of the Gorilla Organization’s great success stories here in the DR Congo. We set it up back in July 2007 to provide first aid and a range of other frontline health services to the indigenous Bambuti communities living on the edges of the Virunga National Park.

Since then, however, the project has been expanded to offer free or affordable healthcare to everyone living in the immediate vicinity. In 2009, we started working with a number of international charities and NGOs, including Merlin and Helping Hands, who provided the clinic with vital, lifesaving drugs and other treatments.

So far, around 5,000 people have benefited from the work of the clinic, which is situated just 12km from Kiwanja in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu. And, with the clinic going from strength to strength, many more will also benefit from access to emergency medical care provided by specialists, both from the DR Congo and elsewhere in the world.

However, it’s imperative that we maintain excellent relations with our donors and other well-wishers so that this clinic, which is situated on the edge of the forest home of our cousins the gorillas, is never short of even a single quinine or paracetamol tablet.

Here are some photos of the clinic in action….

The clinic the Gorilla Organization's supporters helped to build

Communities living on the edge of the gorillas' forest home get access to medicine

International doctors provide healthcare for all at the clinic

It has been an exciting week for the people of Rusayo village in the North Kivu area of DR Congo. 200 homes have this week received a fuel-efficient stove from the local NGO Aide-Kive, thanks to funding from the Gorilla Organization and the people who support this blog!

These precious stoves will make a huge difference to the fight against deforestation in the Virunga National Park as families will now need to use much less fuel for cooking than they did before.

Deo Kalus, who works for Aide-Kivu presented the stoves to the local families and at the same time ensured that they understood that there was now no need to cut down trees or collect wood from the national park, the gorillas’ forest home.

Families were extremely grateful for their new stoves and reiterated their commitment to protecting the forest. They also reaslise the econimic gains the stoves will bring to all of them as they save time and money on collecting fuel.

Have a look at the photos below. It was quite a sight to see al the stoves lines up and to see how grateful the families of Rusayo were to receive their new stoves!

The fuel-efficient stoves are lined up, ready for distribution to local families

Deo explains the importance of the stoves and how they prevent deforestation and save the gorillas. Deo’s speech is followed by instructions on how to use the fuel-efficient stoves.

Smiles as the first stoves are handed out.

There is one for every household in the village!

I am really sorry to have to bring you some very bad news from the Virungas. Yesterday morning a vehicle belonging to the ICCN (the Congolese wildlife authority) was attacked. During the attack eight people were killed. Three of the victims were park rangers and five were members of the national army who were working with the rangers.

The car was traveling along the road between Mabenga and Rwindi through the middle of the park. It was deploying the men on board to help keep the road safe for local people as in recent weeks this area has been very insecure as a result of the presence of illegal armed groups. The early morning patrol car was attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade, the attackers fled the scene immediately on foot. We are not certain of who the perpetrators are or which rebel group they came from, however we do believe that they are from the FDLR Rwandan militia and the search continues to find the attackers.

This is the worst attack on ranger patrols in over a year. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families of these brave men who lost their lives.

I want to introduce you to Pili-Pili. He is truly one of the unsung heroes of gorilla conservation. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Kahuzi Biega National Park you will meet Pili-Pili at the Tshivanga station – the entrance to the park. It is here that Pili-Pili greets visitors and shares his knowledge with today’s rangers.

Pili-Pili worked alongside Kahuzi Biega National Park’s founder, the late Adrian Deschryver, in the 1960s and was the first ever ranger to habituate gorillas in the park. As you can imagine he knows everything about the park and has more experience with gorillas than anyone I know.

Pili-Pili is now too old to make the trek in to the forest to see the gorillas (he is not sure himself how old he is), but he is a fountain of knowledge. The chief warden at the park, Mr Radar Nishuli, calls him the living library of gorilla conservation as he knows so much about the gorillas and is happy to share his vast experience with anyone who has the time to talk to him.

Here is a photo of me with Pili-Pili!

I have just got back to the office in Goma after a trip to Kahuzi Biega National Park. I was hoping to get some photos of the new baby twins that were born into Chiminuka’s group in November. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to see the twins, their mother is being very protective of them and is keeping them away – which is great as she is keeping them very safe, but a shame that we don’t have any photos to show you.

I did however see Chiminuka (this is a photo of me with Chiminuka) – I have had the privilege of meeting him many times but I am always amazed at how strong and handsome he is. We were also delighted to see one of the other sets of twins in Chiminuka’s family. The photo below is of one of the twins up a tree – the rangers say the twins are now two years old and although they don’t yet have names they are looking forward to naming them soon.

Fingers crossed we will get some photos of the new born twins very soon!