Original Story Published by: Kalpana Sunder, www.scmp.com
Photo Source: Visit Rwanda
(Above) This baby gorilla, born on February 19, was named Ramba (‘Sustainable’) by Bernard Lama, former Paris Saint-Germain and French national football team goalkeeper.
It’s a misty Rwandan morning and the atmosphere is festive.
In a field with the silhouettes of the Volcanoes National Park in the Virunga Mountains as a backdrop, a crowd of young students in olive green T-shirts and baseball caps wave flags, dance and sing along to live music. Elsewhere, thousands of parents with children perched on their shoulders are cheering and moving to the music.
White tents have been pitched in the middle of the field, which is dominated by a gargantuan woven bamboo statue of a gorilla family – a silverback, his mate and two infants – and a narrow stage made from steel, bamboo and eucalyptus.
As traditional drummers pound their instruments, volunteers rush around, ushering VIP guests to their seats inside the tents.
In front of the stage, male dancers wearing flowing headdresses made of white grass perform the Intore warrior dance, before 180 artists from the Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company twirl, spin and jump, sheathed in eye-catching anklets.
The annual Kwita Izina, or Gorilla Naming Ceremony, in the village of Kinigi, gateway to the Volcanoes National Park, is a colourful affair at which Hollywood stars and famous footballers rub shoulders with local villagers as they celebrate the arrival of new members of a species once on the brink of extinction.
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