DUNGENESS — There’s pleasure travel, and then there’s the life-changing trip.
For Carol Swarbrick Dries of Dungeness, a trek to Africa was an awakening — one she wanted to bring back home.
Swarbrick Dries and her husband, Jim Dries, went “gorilla trekking,” to see the mountain gorillas of Uganda and Rwanda.
And on this trip two years ago, they got to know veterinarian Jode Garbe of Seattle, a woman whose love for the great apes, along with her work on a sanctuary for them, has led to her involvement with development projects in Rwandan villages.
An opportunity
The Drieses, meantime, are taking advantage of a brief window of time when Garbe is in Washington before she goes back to work in Africa. They’re bringing her to the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, for a program at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Swarbrick Dries urges anyone interested in protection of wildlife — and sustainable development around wildlife habitat — to join the discussion.
They should arrive around 6:30 p.m. to be assured seats, she said.
“I can’t emphasize enough: It’s free,” added Swarbrick Dries.
Readers Theatre Plus, the community theater group she co-founded, is sponsoring Tuesday’s event.
Along with Garbe’s talk on her work with wildlife and development in Africa, the Drieses will talk briefly about gorilla trekking. Seeing them in their natural habitat — mothers caring for babies, young males at play — was an almost mystical experience, Swarbrick Dries said.
The animals, she added, “are so full of peace.”
They were not frightened of humans, nor did they do anything to frighten the group of visitors the Drieses traveled with.
Swarbrick Dries said, too, that those who come Tuesday night will have a chance to learn how they can help plant seeds of sustainable development in Uganda and Rwanda.
There will be information on programs that provide farm animals that can feed nearly a whole village, Swarbrick Dries said.
And she’ll offer information about the Promise of Hope Foundation, a Sequim nonprofit that supports schoolchildren in Uganda,
For more details about Tuesday’s program and other Readers Theatre Plus activities, phone 360-681-3862.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.