I've raised £11000 to support the Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project, in loving memory of Jax Rohen
Organised by Jax Rohen & the Bulindi Chimpanzee and Community Project
Story
On Tuesday 28th April 2020, Jacqueline ‘Jax’ Rohen passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly in Uganda.
Jax was the Co-director of the Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project alongside her fiancé Matt. The project conserves wild chimpanzees by supporting local households living alongside them.
As well as her family losing a much loved partner, daughter, sister, auntie, niece and friend, Bulindi Chimpanzees have lost a much loved colleague and a very important piece of their puzzle.
As friends, we have contacted her family and offered any help that we possibly can. Initially aiming to set up a JustGiving page to relieve the financial implications of this tragedy, they have said;
“When Jax fell in love and moved to Uganda to be with Matt, it wasn't long before she put her incredible skill set to use and set up the Bulindi Chimpanzee and Community Project (BCCP). The aim of the project is to support and protect the local chimp population which is in grave danger due to deforestation. As the chimps are living on privately owned land, they are not protected by the government.
Jax and Matt have worked tirelessly for the last few years to do something about the situation. Jax, armed with her incredible drive, passion and creativity, started something amazing in Hoima District, where a population of 300 wild chimps live around villages. A huge programme of reforestation is underway, with a team of foresters in place to raise saplings (to date they have raised over 2 MILLION seedlings), survey the land and support local farmers. Bore holes have been sunk to bring safe, clean water to villages and reduce human contact with the chimps. Local families have been supported with school fees. An education project has been set up. Machines and resources were supplied for local women to make sanitary ware. Funding was secured for local women to take out loans to set up mini-enterprises to get themselves out of poverty.The work that has gone into making this project so successful is staggering and the results are humbling. Jax and Matt were rightly proud of the BCCP and with your help, the work can continue and her legacy will live on. A little goes a long way in Uganda so no donation is too small. Jax would have loved you for it. Xx”
You can read more about the project and the huge plans they have to expand their outreach HERE
If you are not able to donate, giving them a follow on social media (www.facebook.com/bulindichimpanzees/) also helps massively to spread the word about the amazing work that they do.
Jax was a lot of things to a lot of people but above all she was generous of spirit. Always the first person to want to help, the first person to don a Santa costume and run around the park for charity, the first person to appear on your birthday with a cake she had made herself, the first person to check if you got home OK, to buy a round at the pub or to offer her time and her support to anybody in need.
All donations will be received directly by Jax’s family and they will be able to distribute it to the charity to honour the amazing work that she did for them.
It’s unfathomable to imagine a world without Whirlwind Jax but what we can do, right now, is ensure that the work that she did, the animals, the people and the community which she put so much energy into and who all adored her, can continue to thrive.
On behalf of her family & the BCCP, thank you for your support and messages at this truly tragic time.
We love you so much Jax and will miss you forever xxx
