How We Met President Paul Kagame at the Annual Rwanda Kwita Izina Baby Gorilla Naming Ceremony
Every year the first week of September, Rwanda celebrates Kwita Izina, the baby gorilla naming ceremony. David and I attended with Kwita Izina in 2017, where more than 20,000 people attended worldwide.
The Rwandans create beautiful bamboo sculptures, including gorillas, elephants, lions, and rhinos, and I love them. While David and I were waiting for President Paul Kagame to arrive by helicopter, a uniformed officer struck up a conversation with us. We told him we stayed with our friend Dian Fossey at Karisoke, saw her study groups, and fell in love with the mountain gorillas. Then went home to California, held some fundraisers, and helped fund the anti-poaching patrol at Karisoke. The officer got quiet and said, will you excuse me for five minutes? I'll return. He shows up 10 minutes later. He leans forward and says, President Paul Kagame has heard about you being friends with Dian and helping the mountain gorillas, and he would like to meet you. Is that all right? We said, of course. We'd be honored. And that's how we got to meet President Paul Kagame.
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