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.