Archive for the ‘Stratton Elementary’ Category
I have just returned from my patrol in Ishango and Tshiaberimu after the attacks on the gorilla sector by the Mai Mai. The situation is much calmer now, and I have a full update for you coming. Four people have actually been arrested. I am very tired and we need to now plan for other patrols as my work is never done. I have just visited the WildlifeDirect office which is right next to where I live and Samantha gave me the envelope full of letters and pictures from everyone at Stratton Elementary. I am so pleased I cannot tell you! Your support is amazing and I feel very very lucky. I am going to read each and every letter later on, with Samantha or Elie, so they can explain words I do not understand. Here I am looking at the pictures and letters.
And here are some of my favorite pictures from you all. I also like reading about the Pickles for Primates.
This last week I’ve received messages from the students of Stratton Elementary who are sponsoring my work here. Their support has been tremendous and never ending, and I have heard from their teacher Libby that towards the end of last week they had been selling giant dill “Pickles for Primates” for 50 cents a piece to raise enough for my sponsorship. I am not a preacher nor a business man, and so it is difficult for me to find the words that express what I want to say. It is not just the physical things that the students at Stratton Elementary have made possible, like my boots and my rations, but they have also given security to me and my family. This makes it easier when I go out on patrol as I am able to concentrate on my work, and I hope that one day that all of the rangers who work for the Advance Force will also have this ongoing support. Stratton Elementary, you have given more than money and for that I am truly thankful. Thank you. I will now try do the best I can to answer all of your comments. dear Aloma Iam happy you are safe. Are you? do you drink soda. sinserly Danny Hello Danny, I hope you are well. We are now safe in our homes in Mutsora as the area is a lot more stable than before. And yes, I do drink soda. I like to take a coke and also I like sprite too. What is your favourite soda? DearAloma, I’m so sorry that an other goille got killd! How is your family doing? When did that happin? I do not know wath we can do whith out you. I mena that. Love, kori Hello Kori, and thank you for your message. Yes, we were very sad when the silverbacks were killed, it is a very sad thing to happen. They were killed at the end of last year. I am pleased to say that all in my family are in good health. How are you and your family? Dear Aloma, I’m glad that you are helping the gorillas in the Congo. How are you doing? I like you!! Sincerely, Hannah Dear Hannah, I’m doing very well. Thank you for all that you are doing to help our work here. Dear Aloma, Are classes hearts are with you and family .we are listining to africin music ..we will keep giving money to you gys so we can help you gys thrue the summer . Are hearts are also with the gorillas .we love you to the bottem of my heart .we are learning about meal worms and catapeelers they are relly cool . sincerely , brittany Thank you so much Brittany for such a kind message. It is good to know that I have such a good team behind me, so that me and my rangers can keep protecting the mountain gorillas and all the other animals here in Virunga National Park. I like caterpillars too, what is your favourite animal? Dear Aloma, I have my heart with you and the gorillas and i’ll never forget about you and the gorillas. While I was writing this I was auctually listening to music from the cong it was buetiful music. we hope we have payed all your bills from this year and through 3000 so we will always have your back and our hearts will always be with you. when I go home I am going to make cookies, cakes, and muffins to sell for money to give to you and the Gorillas. I hope at the end of the year and the next year at least 100 revels are stoped and there are 1000 Gorillas in the congo and you are safe and unharmed. Love, clare Dear Clare, I’m so glad that you like Congolese music.We love listening to it too and it is also very good to dance to. Thank you so much for all that you are doing for our work here in Congo, you have become an enormous part of all that we do here. I am sure that the cookies and cakes and muffins that you bake are delicious, and I would one day love to try one of them. I too hope that the rebels will leave the park and so then all the animals can return and the gorillas will be safe. Thank you once again. Dear Aloma I think you are good at your job and you are very brave! We are listening to Africa music. Is it scary in the congo because the rebels sincerely ISAIAH Hello Isaiah. We are not so afraid of the rebels, but we also do not like having them here in Congo as they can make life very complicated. Dear Aloma, How are you?I am worried about you!We are listening to African music.We are almost out of school. Your fighter, Anna Thank you Anna, but there is no need to be worried. We do lots of training to make sure that we know well our jobs. Do you know what kind of African music you are listening to? DearAloma, Thank you for what you do.Stratton is always with you! Your friend, Brendan Thank you Brendan, it is good to know that I am getting such good support from all of you at Stratton Elementary. dear aloma I)m sorry that a garilla died in the congo. sincerely miguel p.s. my inglish name is mike. Hello Miguel, do you prefer to be called Miguel or Mike? I am called both Joseph and Aloma, Joseph is my Christian name. Dear Aloma, I hope you and your family are safe. You are a great person. We are listening to African music in our class. I am also a Gorilla expert so you can write to me. your friend,Andrea Thank you Andrea, you too are very kind for all the work that you are doing. It is also good to hear that you are a gorilla expert, did you know that every gorilla has a unique nose pattern, like we humans all have different types of fingerprints? Dear aloma, Hope you are safe.what tipes of insects do you have in the congo.you are doing good in the congo love justin Hello Justin. We have many different types of insects here in Congo, lots of grasshoppers, caterpillars and termites, which tend to be eaten by many of the peoples living here. Thank you for your message, you too are doing good in Congo. Dear Aloma, I hope your doing OK. I think you are doing lots of effort at job. You are the best. I hope the gorillas that died there will be another born that will not die. Sincerely, Marian. Thank you Marian, I too hope that the gorilla population will have a chance to grow well over these next few years. I do believe with all the support that Virunga is receiving that this is becoming more of a possibility. Dear Aloma, how are you doing? Anyway wat kind of gun do you have? Sincerely, Brian8 p.s. do yu have a xp soliver p.p.s wer do you wrk Hello Brian, I am well thank you. How are you? When I’m out on patrol I use a machine gun. What is an xp soliver? I work in Virunga National Park, DR Congo. Dear Aloma, You are the greatest man in Congo I know!I am glad you help the gorllias they need a lot of help and you and the other rangers can do that WELL!Me and my class love listening to Africa music it is so cooler than my music here. my school and my family are right behind you. Your FERIND, dominique Thank you so much Dominique, Stratton Elementary is the greatest school I know! The gorillas do need our help, and the great thing about this blog is that now together we can give them that help. What other types of music do you like listening to apart from African music? It is great to know that your support will always be there. To everyone at Stratton Elementary, I want to say that I am very happy to receive the messages that you have sent me. Strong courage for all the work that you are doing to help us. I am always with you and I sincerely thank you for all that you are doing. Stratton Elementary, you are the best. Joseph Aloma
Hello Stratton Elementary… Here are some answers to the additional questions you sent me the other day. Please forgive me if I left anyone out! I don’t type that quickly and there were many questions! Here is me working with Will from WildlifeDirect earlier on today in Mutsora.
Zoey & Dylan - there are parrots in Congo and many other kinds of birds! There are no parrots where I live, but we have eagles, herons, kingfishers… lots and lots. It is one of the best places in the world for bird watching! Especially in Ishango where the hippos are. Emma - I like sweets but we never really eat them. Maybe sometimes after sports to give me energy! Zack - Yes I do go fishing. In Ishango, where the hippos live, we fish in the lake. You must always avoid breeding grounds as it will only damage fish stocks. Clare - The Advance Force of Rangers has 4 vehicles. One is broken at the moment, and the 3 others work but unfortunately are not in a good state. We need to push them a lot to start! Erin & Devin - I spend as much time as possible with my children but I work a lot, so not as much as I would like. Often we do 10-day patrols for example within Virunga National Park and that obviously takes me a way for a while. David & Jessica - My favorite animal is the Okapi. It only exists in Congo!! It is a member of the Giraffe family. It walks quite like a Giraffe, but doesn’t look like one. Here is a photo below! Have you seen this before?
Elizabeth Hirose - my children go to school in Mutsora. This is where I live and the school is 10 minutes from my house. I would like to thank you for all you are doing, and thank you for thinking of me and my Rangers. Kwa Heri! Aloma
Hello Stratton Elementary, and thank you for the pictures. I hope you don’t mind me putting them on the blog but I do believe it is necessary to give you the recognition for all your help. Truly, we now are a team working together to protect the Mountain Gorillas.
I want everyone to see your beautiful school and all of the work that you have done for us here in Congo. Many thanks to you Libby and Elizabeth, and of course all of you at Stratton Elementary.
It is great to see this board and to see the pictures of my house and family in the middle. It gives me such pride. You all are truly wonderful people, and maybe one day I will be able to thank you in person. Although maybe I will come when there is less snow on the ground and more sunshine!
From my heart, thank you.
I will answer them as soon as possible! Here is a photo in the meantime of Humba, which means Calm or Placid. He is a wonderful Silverback with a family of 9, including himself.
Dear Stratton Elementary, I am in Mutsora, in Virunga National Park and I want to answer some more of your questions! I have just been with WildlifeDirect in the main house at the station and we have been talking about your school and all that you are doing for me and the park and the Mountain Gorillas. The photo below is from today. Next to me is Honore, another troop leader, and Samantha from WildlifeDirect is opposite. She is helping me write the blog and read all your questions! Zach - yes I celebrate Christmas. We go to church and then we play with the children at home. I have three children. We all sit round and have a soda with the children, because this is a day for children.
Gina - My birthday is on 19th November. We don’t really celebrate birthdays much here… Congo is still a difficult place to live so we do our best! Brian D - no I have never been to the United States. It is a long way from Congo! I would like to go one day, but for now I must stay here and work. We also need to get visas for the United States which is complicated. What is it like where you live? can you send me photos? James - my favorite sport is football. I support the FC KIRWA club - in the east of Congo in Rutshuru province. I am also the President of an Orchestra that is also called KIRWA. It is a music group and we play Congolese music. There are 12 young men in the group. I also like karate, but I prefer football. Zoey & Emma - my oldest child who is 6 and called Gulin goes to school. He is in primary school and studies lots of things. My other two children are 3 - Lydia - and 11/2 - Carine - so they do not go to school yet. Devin - my favorite colors are blue and white because those are the colors of my football team FC Kirwa! They are also the colors of the sky. Cassandra - after secondary school i did several diplomas to become a Congo Ranger - i actually also studied maths and physics. My father was also a Ranger and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Dylan - Gulin likes to play football and my two young daughters like to play with dolls. David - i will take a picture of my house to show you!! Hope - when i am not working i take care of my family and my personal matters. I also meet up with my neighbours and we chat about what is going on in Congo. I studied Community Conservation among other things so i like to see how it is all going where i live. Devon - my favorite food is manioc (cassava) - we eat this a lot and it is the food that i like the best. We do not have pre-made food here where i live so you cannot buy chips or biscuits. We grow our food and we eat straight from the land. Eric - yes, Gorillas eat a lot! 25 kilos per day of leafs and roots from the trees. They spend their whole day eating, apart from a rest at about midday. Then they carry on eating til evening. Brittany - i love my job. It gives me satisfaction and also allows me to earn a salary to look after my family. I really enjoy being in the park too and working in nature conservation. Hannah - i have not worked with baby Gorillas because the mother keeps her baby very closely because she is jealous. It is dangerous to get close and we do not allow it. Gorilla families need to be left in peace when a newborn comes into the family. You should look at our blog wildlifedirect.org/gorillaprotection and you will read that a Gorilla was born just recently! Zak - yes i do have a favorite Gorilla! He is called KARATEKA and is a Silverback. He is very friendly and likes playing with people.. a bit like kung fu! Here is a photo of a tame hippo that was taken the other day! The hippo is used to people and we were just monitoring his health to check he is okay! He is very happy!
Dear Stratton Elementary! Here are the answers to some of the questions you all asked me: Sydney - Mountain Gorillas are critically endangered, with only 700 individuals in the world. There are about 380 in the Virunga Volcanoes Conservation Area - which is shared by Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Despite conflict in the region, their decline has been reversed thanks to international support from people like you and brave conservationists. Xavier - the Gorillas are doing well… despite the war in my country and neighboring countries we have managed to protect the Gorillas from poachers. There are actually 14 percent more Gorillas now than there were in 1998 which is pretty amazing. But we still have a big job to do. Gorillas are easy to track and easy to harm… and we must prevent that. Allison - No I have never held hands with a Gorilla! You can get very close, within about 1 meter, but you have to be very careful not to transmit diseases. Also, the big male Silverback of the family can get very jealous and he is very big! Seth - we don’t really watch TV here. We have a few channels, but certainly not as many as you. The main issue is electricity. We have to get electricity from generators, which need fuel, which costs money. So mostly we don’t watch television unless there is one in a public place. But where we live in the forest people do not watch TV. It is isolated… but beautiful. So we can watch our surroundings and chat amongst ourselves for entertainment. Brianna - the weather varies enormously in Congo, but generally it is wet and warm. Where i live in Mutsora has the highest rainfall in Congo! We are in the foothills of the Ruwenzori mountains (this means Mountains of the Moon). You can see glaciers up at 5,000 meters (15,000 feet) so we do get some cooler air coming down the mountain sometimes. Jessica - i don’t see Gorillas every day. It depends on where we go on patrol. Also, in addition to Gorillas there are other animals like okapi, hippos, buffalo, forest elephants, jackals… and we try to protect them all! So although i do see Gorillas very often, i also see other animals. Unfortunately i also see poachers but that is a good thing because it means we catch them! I will reply to all your other questions later on in the week! I have to go on patrol now. I would like to ask you some questions too: What is it like where you live? What do you like to study most? What do you do in your free time? Bye for now, Aloma
I realize the photo yesterday made me look sad or something so today in Mutsora my friend took another photo of me - hope you like it! I hope you like it better! I am standing next to one of our vehicles. ICCN stands for Institut Congolais Pour La Conservation de La Nature - Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation. That means us!  I am also showing you another photo of what public transport looks like in Congo… you probably think it is quite funny!  I hope to hear from you all soon and learn all your names… Best wishes, Aloma
Hello Class of Colorado! I am Aloma Major, the Congo Ranger working in Virunga National Park working to protect the Mountain Gorillas and other wildlife in the park. As your teacher Libby told you I am 34 years old, and I have been working in the park for over 10 years. I was born in North Kivu province which is in the east of Congo. I am married, and my wife and children and I live in a village called Mutwanga which is just on the edge of the park. This is the first time I have ever done a blog, so please forgive me if I make any mistakes. Plus my English is not that fluent so someone from Wildlife Direct helps me write this post! I am really looking forward to hearing about you all - who you are, what you do, what it is like in Colorado. Please ask me all the questions you want about Congo and my life and I will do my best to answer them! I will also take more photos to show you - i think i look a bit serious in this one! I also want to show you more photos of the park, and my family!
Here also is a great photo of one of the Gorillas. It was taken just a couple of weeks ago during a patrol. Pretty soon we are going to have a profile of all the Gorillas on the website… they all have names, history, family and I think it will be great for you all to see this.  With my warmest feelings from Congo! Aloma |
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