Kwita Izina (the Gorilla Naming Ceremony)

So I got the opportunity to go to Musanze to see the Gorilla naming ceremony, which is a huge event in Rwanda. After all, Rwanda is famous for two things-- the G word (that I don't need to mention), and the mountain gorillas that Diane Fossey studied. It was the 5th annual gorilla naming ceremony (it's the 5th annual everything here-- 5th annual amahoro week, 5th annual film festival, and 5th annual Kwita Izina).

I didn't really know what to expect, but it was pretty fun. We didn't get to see any actual gorillas, but we did get to see people dressed in gorilla costumes, which I promise isn't as lame as it sounds. There were a lot of them, even young children dressed as baby gorillas, and they acted really well, banging on their chests and making gorilla noises as they crawled across the lawn. They interacted pretty well with the people.

So there were A LOT of performances, which I'm happy to say heavily outnumbered speeches, thought the speeches were good. Paul Kagame was not there as I'd hoped he'd be, but the prime minister was.
Some of the performances were exceptionally good, especially the traditional dance groups and a group of middle school aged drummer girls.
So each year, the government picks people who they feel have had a positive influence on the country to name the baby gorillas of Virunga National Park. This year there were 14, so 14 "special guests" got to name them-- one of whom was a former student of Diane Fossey. Another was a musician from South Africa. None were people I'd heard of.
There were definately some big names in attendance, which of course included the prime minister, the American ambassador to Rwanda, Jack Hanna from the Discovery Channel, and a bunch of NGOs.
When the ceremony ended, we waited in line to eat under a large group of tents. I couldn't really see much of inside, due to the fact that we were pretty far back in a long line. However, a person who I assume was working the event spotted us in line and told us to skip the line and come right in, so we did. We not only got our own table, but we got tons of very good food (all the food and drinks there were free for everyone). I felt a little guilty that we didnt' wait in line, but I couldn't help but savor the wine, meet, and delicious rasberry pastires we got to eat.
All in all, it was a really fun event and a really good oppotunity to meet a lot of important people. However, I feel a need to mention a few other things (I'm always critiquing things, I can't help it).

The people attending the ceremony were a certain crowd. Diplomats, ex-pats, rich poeple who'd flown into Rwanda for the event, NGOs, and upper class Rwandans. The people on the other side of the fence, who got to watch the performances but mostly saw the performers and the speakers backs, were the "real" population of Rwanda-- the ones without shoes or in sandals, the ones with old clothing. There were so many of them, and they had to stand the entire time to see anything. I wonder how all that works, exactly. I mean, tickets to the event are free, they can be aquired from a website, but they don't necessarily check tickets at the door. It's kind of like when you go to a club, and the bouncer doesn't necesarilly care if you pay or not, as long as you portray a certain image. On the one hand, I know most people in Rwanda probably don't have access or don't know how to use internet, and therefore didn't have the connections to get tickets, but I can say with some confidence that it's also the guard's way of keeping certain people out of the event, worried that they'll cause a rucus and disturb people of quality. That made me feel a little uncomfortable, like I was turning my nose up at people, which is something I'm sure all of us do when we live in or visit a developing country. I was really happy when one of the people who had been chosen to name a gorilla turned around and faced the crowd of people, and told them "this event is for you". I was also pleased that the prime minister took a significant amount of time as he exited the event to talk to and shake hands with the people on "the other side" of the fence. At some point, the guards must have gotten more relaxed or the crowd went wild, because towards the end of our meal (when I think they were encouraging us to leave), a large part of the crowd behind the fence came in and stormed through the dining area and all around, taking food and collecting empty bottles. They were chased away, btu of course, I was left feeling a little guilty and awkward.

I would still say that Kwita Izina is a great event, and I look forward to attending it next year.