Raising Awareness

I have started this blog with the idea of raising awareness on three issues:

1. Virunga National Park and the endangered mountain gorilla;
2. Other endangered African wildlife and eco systems;
3. Human suffering throughout Africa.

In August 2007, I came upon an article in Newsweek magazine regarding the slaughter of the Rugendo family of mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, I have learned a great deal about what the threats to Virunga National Park and the mountain gorilla are. I've learned that it is a very dangerous and complicated matter, but one that is not without hope. In raising awareness about Virunga National Park and the mountain gorilla, I also hope to raise awareness regarding the humanitarian crises in DRC. It is my belief that by helping the people, we can save Virunga National Park and its wildlife.

With this blog, I will also work hard to raise awareness to help save other precious eco systems and majestic animals throughout Africa. I have been profoundly affected by many stories of all kinds of African wildlife such as bonobos, elephants, raptors, lions, cheetah, chimpanzees, giraffe, and rhino as well as, the many conservationists on the ground working their hearts out to save them.

For me, this is a labor of love and concern for the future of these animals that I have dreamed about since I was a child. I don’t want my children to grow up in a world with no wild mountain gorilla, African elephant or giraffe. I can’t imagine a world with no wild lion, cheetah, or leopards. And our Mother Earth just would not be the same without the Mara, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World.”

At the same time, my heart goes out to those suffering throughout Africa. There is a tremendous amount of human suffering that I have learned about and read about within this last year. I would like to raise awareness regarding this issue and somehow help to facilitate an end to it, sometime within my lifetime.

I have a lot of work to do and hopefully you’ll join me in raising awareness and saving some of our worlds most magnificent and majestic wildlife.