One of the “human chimps”
that made the fundraiser memorable.
Last Saturday evening, a fundraising dinner to feed rescued
chimpanzees at Ngamba Island was held at Sheraton Hotel. The red carpet affair
kicked off 7pm prompt with an hour-long cocktail.
The guests were easy to identify judging by the animal prints in
their outfits, which was in line with suggested jungle gear dress code. At
around 8pm, the over 150 guests who had turned up for the fundraiser were
ushered into the elaborately set Rwenzori Ballroom with partitioned tables
stuffed with little chimpanzees.
To make the guests comfortable, were a group of six people from
the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT), who made
unique chimpanzee sounds. The captivated audience listened attentively to
welcome remarks by Ms Lilly Ajarova, the executive director of CSWCT. She
informed the audience that chimpanzees are 97.8 per cent human and are an
endangered species due to meat and pet trade as well as bush destruction.
She explained, “At the moment, there are approximately 150,000
chimpanzees in the world, approximately 5,000 of them in Uganda and CSWCT has
rescued 48 chimps. As empty plates were removed from the tables, a sentimental
story of Ikuru, a chimp rescued in 2001 after she watched her mother shot to
death and her body burnt to ashes was narrated.
Chris Pollard, the General Manager of Sheraton Kampala Hotel,
gave a speech about the hotel’s commitment to support CSWCT in its quest to
protect and rehabilitate rescued chimpanzees.
The chief guest, Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife andHeritage Dr Maria Mutagamba, in her speech, urged the guests to love Uganda.
“Let us show love for our country by going out to love nature,” she said.
This was followed by the auction of two paintings, two pictures
and a chimp footprint. A painting of Medina, a rescued chimp was sold at
Shs1.4m. Pollard bought the second painting at Shs200, 000. A picture of Baluku
who was rescued after losing two fingers and surviving trade in 1999, was
bought by Arthur Busingye at Shs1.6m.
Amos Wekesa the Managing Director of Great Lakes Safaris bought
the last picture of Pasa the chimp together with her silver footprint, at
Shs2.3m.
With an annual budget of Shs100m for chimpanzee food, Shs25m for
veterinary care and Shs105m for maintenance of the facilities at Ngamba Island
Chimpanzee Sanctuary, it made sense that the tickets for the dinner were each
sold at Shs200,000.
The organisers said they are yet to compute the donations received since
some of the tickets had not yet been paid for.By: Bruce Amp
No comments:
Post a Comment