Gorilla Naming Ceremony in Rwanda Africa
Gorilla naming has for centuries been a tradition in Rwanda embedded in their culture.However,it turned into a national public event in 2005 and is commonly known as kwita izina which means to give a name in the locally spoken dialect.This is done to create awareness of the gorilla nationally and internationally and to also highlight Rwanda as an excellent tourist destination to the world.
The ceremony is sublime because it is direct confirmation of successful conservation and protection efforts of the rare primates by the government.Every ceremony has got a theme to grace it, forinstance the just concluded 2009 theme was CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF THE GORILLA.It should be noted that Rwanda is the first country to hold public gorilla naming ceremonies.
Notable dignitaries and celebraties have participated in the ceremony and had gorillas named after the.Most natably:
- President Paul Kagame who in June 2005 joined villagers to name 30 rare gorillas.First lady Jeannette Kagame too had 2 gorillas named after her i.e urumi(light) and agaseke(decorated basket).The UK ambassador to Rwanda had a gorilla named big ben.Other dignitaries include:Bill Gates(Microsoft),Ted Turner(CNN) and Natalie Portman.
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