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Valerie is the Program Director of Conservation Heritage – Turambe, a local Non-Governmental Organization based in Musanze District in the Northern Province of Rwanda. She teaches local Rwandan schoolchildren and community members living near Volcanoes National Park (VNP) about conservation and health to ensure they live in harmony with gorillas and their habitat. Valerie started working as a guide. Later on, she became an assistant for a conservation education program and developed a love and appreciation for the wild. She began to understand the interconnectedness of nature, and how all of us play a role in conserving it. She has taught over 4,000 children across 11 years. She is creating the next generation of Rwanda’s wildlife conservationists by encouraging, engaging and inspiring schoolchildren to care about their natural resources, and act on behalf of wildlife. She has initiated a “Connecting Children to Nature Initiative” to take younger kids to the Volcanoes National Park to see mountain gorillas in the wild.