My Story

Sally (Its Dangerous being a Chimpanzee)

Most children celebrate the eruption of their first premolars with their parents but not me. My first premolars or if you would, my first permanent teeth erupted when I was 7, an orphan living at Ngamba Island, separated  from my family by some self seeking pet traders.

Fortunately I was confiscated by Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Officials and taken to Ngamba Island. That is why I had caregivers and not my parents celebrating the growth of my first permanent teeth on 19^th October 1998.

Some Chimpanzees like Kyewunyo and Afrika’s son wake up each day with a mother, a father, grandmother and father at their back and call but  most of us don’t have that privilege here at Ngamba Island.

I arrived at this Sanctuary as an infant; my life and every memory I have is in this place that is why I feel a special attachment to this place, it’s where I met my sister Becky with whom I somehow managed to forge a simple incomplete family structure with.

We have no father or mother in our family but somehow we consider ourselves a family— a family of two sisters who take care of each other and have each other’s backs at all times. Most care givers don’t understand how we could have possibly managed to sustain this friendship irrespective of the many years that have past but I don’t know either.  I’m just glad we did because that alone takes away that random feeling of nostalgia whenever I think about who my parents were and how they would have reacted to the eruption of my very first premolars.

Do you have a sister that makes you forget about all your pain? Well I do and if you happen to have one, I would like to hear your story when you visit us at Ngamba Island, Becky and I will be looking forward to seeing you.

1000 Pant Hoots

Sally.