Today marks a very special day at the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Center (LPRC/ CRPL) in the village of Lwiro, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Located a few kilometers from Kahuzi-Beiga National Park in the southwest corner of DRC, CRPL is the Wildlife ConserVet Education Project’s first partner in Africa. Two impressive young Congolese veterinarians—Drs. Juuny Bweya and Paisible Kulimushi—begin their internship studies today!
Juuny and Paisible will work under the watchful eyes of Dr. Luis Flores and the veterinary team at CRPL for the next year. Theoretical sessions will include monthly workshops, scientific article analysis and presentation, and informal talks during interventions. Practical work will include management and daily care clinical cases, anesthesia and monitoring, basic laboratory work for field diagnostic and field surveillance of great apes.
Dr. Flores—the Head Veterinarian and Capacity Building Manager at CRPL—and the management at the Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Center have worked very hard under very challenging conditions to develop a solid Capacity Building Program. The Program has, since 2017, trained 17 veterinary interns in wildlife medicine. We are very proud to support their efforts and excited about teaming up with them and the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Society of Canada to fund these two positions through ConserVet.
ABOUT JUUNY & PAISIBLE
Dr. Juuny Bweya was born in the village of Oicha, in the North Kivu province of DRC. Civil war and rebel activity in her home village forced the family to relocate eight years ago to Butembo, 45 kilometers away. Juuny has one sister and two brothers. She completed her veterinary school studies in 2020 at the University of Graben, in Butembo—the second oldest veterinary facility in DRC.
Dr. Paisible Kulimushi is from the village of Walungu in the South Kivu Province of DRC. He is the third son of the family and has seven brothers and seven sisters. Paisible completed his veterinary degree in 2019 at the University of Cinquantenaire in the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at Lwiro.
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