Kwita Izina

A couple of weekends ago on June 20th, I attended Kwita Izina, an annual naming ceremony in Musanze to celebrate the new births of gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. It was an all day affair, with music performers, plays, speeches, people dressed in gorilla suits, and more. The entire celebration was impressive. Since I was able to slip into the VIP section near the stage, the photos and videos I took of the festivities came out pretty well.

Performers doing some really amazing dances

My fellow intern and I lounging on the grass near the stage. Our outfits randomly matched that day!

From top left, clockwise: US Ambassader to Rwanda Stuart Symington, Ahmed (Access Project PCV), Me, Sonia (PCV), and Karen (Access Project, Intern)

Me sitting pretty with some of the gorillas. They're not real, of course. Just some people in gorilla suits acting all gorilla-y.

In the morning, the surrounding mountains were basically covered in mist so they were difficult to see. But by the end of the day, the skies cleared up a bit. So beautiful! Unfortunately, soon after this photo was taken the people in the picture were chased by policemen carrying large sticks. It was difficult to watch. I'm not sure if that's a regular occurrence here in Rwanda, since I have yet to see that happen in Rwamagana.


I hope you enjoyed the photos. Overall, it was a great day. :)