Wangari Maathai (1 April 1940-25 September 2011) grew up in the green highland of Kenya in Africa. When she returned from studying in the US, she discovered that her lush green homeland was being destroyed by deforestation , which caused water and food shortages, malnutrition and disappearing wildlife. She began to educate other to care for the land and re-plant the forests. The people called mama miti, ‘mother of trees’.
For her compassion and efforts, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She was the first African woman and environmentalist to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
On hearing she had won the Peace Prize, Maathai walked outside and planted a tree. It was a Nandi flame tree, which grew in her homeland of Nyeri, Kenya, where Maathai was when she heard the news. She knelt on the earth and dug her hands into the red soil, worm from the sun and settled the tree into the ground.
‘It was’, she told the journalists and onlookers gathered, ‘the best way to celebrate’. Wangari Maathai tells the beautiful story of a tiny hummingbird determined to save its home from a destructive forest fire. Facing criticism from the other animals for being too small to make a difference, all the hummingbird can do is its best. ‘And that to me is what all of us should do’, says Maathai.
On hearing she had won the Peace Prize, Maathai walked outside and planted a tree. It was a Nandi flame tree, which grew in her homeland of Nyeri, Kenya, where Maathai was when she heard the news. She knelt on the earth and dug her hands into the red soil, worm from the sun and settled the tree into the ground.
‘It was’, she told the journalists and onlookers gathered, ‘the best way to celebrate’. Wangari Maathai tells the beautiful story of a tiny hummingbird determined to save its home from a destructive forest fire. Facing criticism from the other animals for being too small to make a difference, all the hummingbird can do is its best. ‘And that to me is what all of us should do’, says Maathai.
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