Kwita Izina is a Rwandan ceremony of giving a name to a new born baby. It has been part of the Rwandan tradition for hundreds of years. The main aim of bringing  the ceremony for gorillas is to help monitor each individual gorilla and their groups in their natural habitat. It was created as a means of bringing attention both locally and international about the importance of protecting the mountain gorillas and their habitats in the Virunga Mountains in the north of the country.

The program also lets one adopt a baby Gorilla, the funding genarated by the adoption process is used for the costly affair of protecting them. The affection the sponsors build for the animal in the process of naming it ensures that the gorilla has a sponsor for a long time. The Idea of having a long term relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored ensure flow of funds. 98% of the worlds Mountain Gorilla species lives in Rwanda. There are different levels of adoption allowing one to contribute according to one capacity. The ceremony is presided over by the countries president.

The ceremony is conducted in the village town of Kinigi in the Nyanza(Ruhengeri) district. Kinigi is the place where one starts trekking to view the gorillas. The trekking takes you 2000 feet from Kinigi into the mountains of the Volcanoes National Park. The oldest person to have trekked to see the gorillas was a 95 year old grand mother from France. The park rules ensures that those trekking are at least 15 years old. During the Kwita Izina ceremony the village town of Kinigi turns  into a busy center, where all the action actually happens.

The official website : http://www.kwitizina.org/ can give you further details about the ceremony including dates and other vital information.