Sanctuaries | 497 I have stressed the importance of individuality Each chimpanzee has his or her own, unique personality, and each plays an important role in his or her society This thinking was not fashionable among scientists back in l960, but is widely accepted today From the beginning I insisted that the chimpanzees had feelings and emotions similar to ours (After all, I had learned during my childhood that this was true for my dog.) Thus to abandon an orphaned chimpanzee would be, for me, as unethical as abandoning a small human child However, I know also that it is desperately important to everything we can to protect the remaining wild chimpanzees and their habitat And so JGI struggles to achieve both of these goals A final and important point is that our orphans serve as ambassadors for the wild chimpanzees Most people, even if they live near a forest, have little or no opportunity to observe chimpanzees When visitors from the villages or from a nearby town come to see the sanctuary chimpanzees, they are typically amazed to see how like humans they are A number of people, after watching the youngsters kissing and embracing, using tools, playing, and so on, have said that they will never purchase, trade, or eat chimpanzees or other apes again, and never go to a restaurant that serves ape meat We especially encourage children to visit And we aim to provide research opportunities for students from universities to study chimpanzee behavior Another criticism often leveled at those working to save orphan chimpanzees or other animals in Africa is that we have got our priorities wrong Surely, in view of the poverty and suffering of the people of Africa, we should not be wasting money on animals We realize only too well the desperate need of hundreds of thousands of Africans, and JGI is working hard to improve the lives of the people living around our sanctuaries We are modeling these efforts on our highly successful TACARE (Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and Education) program, which continues to improve the lives of over 150,000 people in 24 villages around the Gombe national park This program, in addition to facilitating the introduction of tree nurseries, agroforestry, the most suitable environmentally sustainable farming techniques, and conservation education, also provides primary health care through the regional health authority, AIDS education, and family planning Micro-credit banks enable women to start their own environmentally sustainable projects, thus earning some money for themselves, often for the first time Gifted girls can apply for scholarships to go from primary to secondary school Around the world, it has been shown that as women’s education and self-esteem improves, family size drops In Uganda there is also a developing community outreach program And in the Congo, in the villages adjacent to the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center, a similar program is in its early stages We have built a health dispensary and a school, introduced our education program Roots & Shoots, and are in the planning stages of many other projects to help people to help themselves Of course, in and of themselves, our sanctuaries provide ongoing jobs for local people, help to boost the local economy and, when tourism is possible, bring foreign exchange into the country Unfortunately, it is not only in Africa that chimpanzees desperately need the help of dedicated people In the Americas,