ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ

IN A FLASH SPECIAL: β€˜An Amazing Experience’

All this week, β€œIn A Flash” will feature images from the ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ University group’s trip to Rwanda.

Representatives from ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ meet at Rwandan National Police College.

Mandy Munro-Stasiuk, Ph. D., dean of ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Pacifique Niyonzima, a ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ alumnus who is now leading ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ’s outreach efforts in Rwanda and its partnership with the , met with students at Έι·Ι²Ή²Τ»ε²Ήβ€™s National Police College. The students will be on the Kent Campus this fall to begin their master’s degree programs as part of the growing global education partnership between the two institutions.β€― 

Silverback mountain gorillas at Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.

A trek up the mountain

Έι·Ι²Ή²Τ»ε²Ήβ€™s , which includes a range of dormant volcanoes, is located near Έι·Ι²Ή²Τ»ε²Ήβ€™s National Police College. The park is home to 12 troops of endangered mountain gorillas. The Rwandan National Police oversee security for the park and offered the ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ group a tour as their guests.

Mountain gorilla at Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.

Excursions to see the gorillas are available to visitors through carefully controlled and guided mountainside tours, available by limited permit from the park.

Baby mountain gorilla at Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.

Visitors and guides can view the gorillas in close proximity, from just a few feet away. The troop of gorillas the ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ group visited included two silverback males and two new baby gorillas. Bob Christy, senior coordinator, photography, in ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ’s University Communications and Marketing (UCM) department who captured these images, said, β€œAs you climb the mountain, the gorillas are all around you. When you find them, they will come very close to you, sometimes even touching you. It’s amazing.”

ΠΤΈ£ΞεΤΒΜμ is looking toward including tours of the park in future education-abroad programs in Kigali. 

Panoramic view, looking down the mountain at Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.

A panoramic view, looking down the mountain from Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. 

POSTED: Wednesday, July 19, 2023 10:46 AM
Updated: Wednesday, July 19, 2023 02:38 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Phil B. Soencksen