Elie Mundima

Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 20 2007 | By: admin

On the last day at Kahuzi-Biega was the Passing Out Parade for all of the recruits. This was done in the presence of VIPs from the area as well as the FARDC military who were used as witnesses to the ceremony. This is necessary as with so many rebels in the area we need to have witnesses in place to prevent accusations that we are training rebels along with our recruits.

One of the exercises was to strip and assemble an AK47, blindfolded, in less than a minute.

It was Somba, the only guard to get 27/30 on his target practice, who was able to achieve this first in just 40 seconds. He showed remarkable skills throughout the training ad I have recommended that he is given the responsibility of the whole of his troop - The Chef de Promotion.

After the exercises, all of the recruits marched past the watching crowd. At the front is the Commander of LAB (Lutte Anti-Braconnage: Fight Against Poaching), and in the background you can see the administrative offices of the park.

It was the job of Director Mashagiro Honore of ICCN (Virunga National Park) to give out the certificates. In the background you can see Madame Martinuque, in blue, from the WWF, and the ceremony was also filmed and televised by the Congolese National Channel, RTNC.

Technorati : Congo Rangers, DRC, WildlifeDirect