Gracious Twebaze

I became Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian in 1996, there were only about 650 mountain gorillas left in the world. Today, there are over 1,063. We are proud to have contributed to this positive growth trend though our #OneHealth approach to conservation. One of my first cases as the first Veterinary Officer of @ugwildlife was a scabies outbreak in the mountain gorillas. I learned that we cannot protect gorillas without caring for the people who live next to them. Through @CTPHuganda we started to Improve health care for families around Bwindi, so diseases like scabies don't pass from people to gorillas. We train Village Health and Conservation Teams and Gorilla Guardians to monitor both human and gorilla health. We also help communities find livelihoods like Gorilla Conservation Coffee, so the forest becomes a benefit, not a burden. When communities are healthy, gorillas are healthy. That is One Health. I am humbled to be named a Top 5 @CNN Hero for this work. The winner is decided by your vote. Please vote at: CNN.com/Heroes 10 votes every day until November 29th. Thank you for protecting the mountain gorillas and supporting the local communities with us. #CNNHeroes #WalkingWithGorillas #OneHealth #CTPH #Bwindi

My first interview at the audiobook launch was with Hon Matthew Rukikaire, a distinguished veteran politician and author of a great autobiography “70 Years a Witness: From Colonialism to Resistance and Beyond” He came to the launch of Walking With Gorillas in 2023 and confessed to having read my memoir twice! He started by heartily congratulating me about our work, and expressed his delight about the @CNN global recognition. He asked me how my approach to conservation has changed over the years and what gives me hope. He also asked about “Ruhondeza”, the silverback gorilla I dedicated a whole chapter to in “Walking With Gorillas” whose accommodating nature enabled tourism to begin in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, changing the lives of the local communities for ever! And Ruhondeza’s story captured it all! Hon Rukikaire ended by talking fondly about my mother, Hon Rhoda Kalema, a fellow politician and author of an autobiography “My Life Is But A Weaving”, who referred to him as her brother. Maama was always there to celebrate all the big moments in my life and would have been at the audio book launch. We stood to have a moment of silence for Maama Rhoda, whose legacy is continuing through the countless lives she touched.

It was a pleasure having dinner with Stanley Johnson, my fellow trustee on the board of The Gorilla Organization (TGO). We were joined by Uganda’s High Commissioner to the UK, Nimisha Madhvani, who hosted our first London book launch of Walking with Gorillas at the Uganda High Commission, and by Miriam Otengo, their Counsellor. Stanley, a renowned author, purchased a copy of my book, and I hope he enjoys it! Stanley had just returned from tracking mountain gorillas at Mgahinga National Park and visiting inspiring projects of The Gorilla Organisation. He was excited to meet and reconnect with several people and organizations in conservation and tourism. I’m grateful for these meaningful connections that strengthen conservation, and for his support of our work at @CTPHuganda.