Category Archives: Kinshasa

Sing it loud: the Lomami National Park Exists

Rehearsal of the Lomami National Park anthem for the 10th of December 2016. In October 2016, a colleague from an international conservation NGO in Congo asked us, “Is it true there is a new National Park?” What? She didn’t know? It was three months earlier, on the 19th of July 2016, that the Prime Minister of […]

From Congo’s Traditional Healer to Kinshasa’s General Hospital

Jeanne in the hospital waiting for Tuesday to come — with some trepidation. We are relieved. More correctly we are hopeful – even confident – that Jeanne will be able to walk again. We went to Jeanne’s uncle; we went to Jeanne’s older brother. We pleaded with them to convince the family. Finally Tuesday night […]

In Congo, Parks depend on the Common Man – and Woman

The Abraham ceremony recognizes that it is the actions of mortal men that hold immortal treasures on into future generations. Photo of Cody Pope of WWF_ Salonga National Park. All listened quietly: five ambassadors, an army general, the Congolese Minister of the Environment, a top visiting official from Washington DC…. The testimonies were read. Seven […]

Celebration and Mourning in Kinshasa

The ceremony is about to begin.  The American Ambassador at the far end of the dais, followed by Antonia Abraham, the Minister of Plan and the Director General of the Parks Service, ICCN. Preparing the Abraham Ceremony this year was often too sad to bear. Last year we gave awards to the widows of eight […]