Support Janvier: Mountain Guide and My Hero

Hi! I'm Nikki! I'm raising funds for Janvier and his family. He lives on the outskirts of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda and hikes up the mountains every day with tour groups to help them carry their things or assist them if they have trouble during their hike.

In 2022, I was doing a 6-hour hike up the Virunga Mountains to visit Dian Fossey's grave when my lungs gave out. I started having an asthma attack and I couldn't breathe due to still recovering from a very severe acute case of COVID-19 a month prior. I have never had issues hiking or breathing before so this was a shock to me as I found it more and more difficult to walk and eventually ended up crying and gasping for air on the ground. Janvier came to my rescue and kindly offered to help me down the mountain, as we were already 2 hours into the 6-hour hike.

He grabbed all my gear, along with me, and carried me down that mountain for 2 hours. As I started to find some relief, he would stop along the way and show me where the gorillas would come out of the forest to gnaw on tree branches and the beautiful fields where the villagers grew tea. We stopped and smelled the fresh tea leaves. He did all of this to cheer me up as I was so upset by my sudden condition and inability to do this hike I had dreamed of that I was crying the entire way down.

He told me about his family and how he has 4 young children that he was sending to school based on the tips he made from assisting tourists up the mountains. After he got me down the mountain, I gave him a tip, which he was so appreciative for that he went and bought me a little wooden gorilla figurine from the gift shop with the money I tipped him with!

He and I continued to communicate for some time and he would send me videos of the gorillas he saw on his hikes and updates on how his family was doing. Please return the kindness that he showed me to him, and help him care for his family. He truly is my hero and now we can be his.

Janvier's latest message to me detailing his love for conservation environmental protection and the gorillas:

"Hello my dear friend.

Thank you so for your kind heart.

firstly I would like to start with my life story .

I'm 42 years old I have a wife and 4 children just 2 girls and 2 boys .

When I was young Many people from my village used to hunt animals in the park because they never knew the value of conservation .

Later I took a decision to do advocacy for mountain gorillas and environment protection especially in volcanoes national park where I live and grew up. I tried to educate local people by changing their mindset, where I taught them about the advantages and benefits of mountain gorillas conservation and environment protection as well.

Above that I showed local people the positive impact from gorillas tourism and the value of

Conservation. What l know is, conservation can not be successful without local community participation. That time I was working as a volunteer finally my government arwded me to be a porter ( carrying luggage of tourists who visit Volcanoes national park) .

I started to work as the porter since from 2003 until now. In the meanwhile I don't earn much money as my salary is $10 per day and l can work only 4 times in a month. Simply, this means my salary is 40$ per month and this amount can't sort all my family problems.

Helping me financially it's like changing my life plus my family life as well. I really appreciate everything you are doing to change my life.

Luckily I met with Nikki here in Rwanda since 2022 during COVID I became her porter as she was trying to fulfill her dreams of reaching to visit Dian Fossey Tomb. Thank you very much."

Below are some videos and images of the gorillas that he sends me:

Silver Back Fight

Original TikTok Video