----- Original Message ----- From: Valery Kourinsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 1999 1:17 AM Subject: [postpsylab] Choirboy 'Brought up by Chimpanzees' > Choirboy 'Brought up by Chimpanzees' > 1.12 p.m. ET (1712 GMT) October 18, 1999 By Paul Wilkinson > LONDON - In a story straight from the pages of Edgar Rice Burroughs, a boy > said to have been brought up by apes in the rain forest is coming to Britain > to sing with a children's choir. > The visit is being arranged by Hilary Cook, a dentist. She met the boy, a > 14-year-old known as John, and was told his story while she was working in a > remote settlement 100 miles from Kampala this summer. > John's parents had been killed in a tribal skirmish when he was 2 and he was > abandoned in the forest. A colony of chimpanzees apparently came across the > toddler and began to care for him. They fed him fruit, nuts and berries, > sheltered him and treated him as one of their own. > For the next four years, the story goes, John lived with the chimpanzees, > out of sight of any human beings. He grew to believe he was an ape and > learnt to forage for food. > Then, eight years ago, a tribesman saw what he thought was a naked boy > roaming with the apes. At first no one believed him, but, when he persisted, > a group set off to investigate. > When they found John, he fled in fear from the human beings and his > chimpanzee benefactors put up a ferocious fight to prevent the tribesmen > taking him away. However, the boy was caught and taken to the Kamuzinda > Christian Orphanage, where he lived with the family of the orphanage > manager, who set about teaching him civilized ways. > They discovered that he could say nothing beyond a few animal noises, so > they first had to teach him to speak. In the course of his lessons, it was > discovered that he had a fine singing voice. John joined a 20-strong > children's choir that has since become famous in the area. > Now Mrs. Cook, 56, a mother of five children, has arranged to bring the > choir on a tour of Britain next month, singing African and Christian songs. > The cost will be met by the BBC, which sent a film crew to Uganda to make a > program about John that will be screened later next month. > Mrs. Cook, from Bannercross in Sheffield, said: "It is an incredible story > and there is great excitement about the choir's trip. Many people want to > meet John. > "You hear stories of children being brought up in the jungle by animals, but > most people think it happens only in books and films. But, in John's case, > it was true. His chances of survival were nil until the family of > chimpanzees came along and began to care for him. > "From that point until he was aged about 6, he was reared by the chimps, who > fed him on their own diet and sheltered him until he was found and returned > to civilization. > "He is a shy boy with the most wonderful smile and, because he was late > learning to talk, he still speaks slowly. He also tends to greet people with > a hug, much the same as chimpanzees, and when he hugs you, you know about > it. It is an incredibly powerful hug." > Mrs. Cook treated 200 people in makeshift premises and slept in a hut > riddled with bullets from the army of Uganda's former dictator, Idi Amin. As > she mended teeth, often by torchlight, her daughter acted as a nurse. > "We saw so much poverty," Mrs. Cook said, "yet the people we met were > wonderful." > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > > eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/postpsylab > http://www.egroups.com - Simplifying group communications > > > > >
