13. Maathai was a frequent contributor to international publications such as the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian. 62. Her impact and influence had extended well beyond her constituency in Tetu, Kenya, and far beyond Africa. By mobilizing women to plant and care for trees, Maathai changed the thinking and practices of conserving the environment at a time when dominant global thinking on the environment and womens role in society was grappling for transformation. Later, when she was denied the opportunity to participate in elective politics, she invested her energies into the development of the GBM which became her signature lifetime achievement, widely honored on numerous occasions for its pioneer tree-planting ventures and the related empowerment of women. The couple had similar family backgrounds. Addressing enormously complex challenges of deforestation and global climate change, the movement partnered with poor rural women who were encouraged, and paid a small stipend, to plant millions of trees to slow . 31. It was bolstered by the introduction of cash crops such as coffee, tea, pyrethrum, and the introduction of exotic dairy cows. Aid agencies distrusted state actors and channeled more resources to nonstate actors.56. << /Pages 45 0 R /Type /Catalog >> She observed: Working for justice and freedom is often a lonely and dispirited business. There her interest in the sciences was further nurtured by the Catholic nun teachers. With the reduced role of the state and increased indebtedness of African countries, new spaces for other development actors emerged. Wangari Muta married Mwangi Mathai in 1969. It's teamwork. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, Wangari Maathai spent her life fighting for and promoting democracy and peace, sustainable development, and the empowerment of women. The subsequent handling of the divorce proceedings by the judiciary and the press seem to point out the quandary of how marriages of educated women were then perceived. The diversity of funding sources was remarkable in winning international support and admirers including young people (for instance, Danish school children), celebrities, NGOs, and bilateral, private foundations and UN agencies.57 This array of support attracted international interest, recognition, and awards, and cushioned the GBM and Maathai against drastic measures that were taken at that time against other civil society organizations and individuals in the country. When she was growing up, her father, a truck driver, made sure she was brought into family discussions and valued her opinions. Among these were the rapid transformation that took place in the countryside, especially in central Kenya where Maathai grew up, and the impact this transformation had on the environment, which in turn shaped the concerns that the GBM raised. xcbdg`b`8 $1{0@@"$Q$x;A,u me`b H5 dw Working for the GBM widened her horizons and provided a canvas upon which Maathai painted her broad vision for sustainable development, peace, democracy, gender equality, and grassroots empowerment in Kenya and Africa. Primary Sources Overview . [i] She was born in Nyeri, part of the rural region of Kenya on the 1st of April 1940. She summarized her experiences at Mount St. Scholastica College in the following manner: My four years at the Mount, and experiences I had both on and off campus, nurtured in me a willingness to listen and learn, to think critically and analytically, and to ask questions. Omissions? In the 50s, for purposes of controlling insurgency in central Kenya, cash crops such as coffee and tea, and the keeping of dairy animals were introduced. 22 0 obj Later Years and Death. After completing her high school education in 1959, at Loreto School, Maathai embarked on another educational journey, this time to the United States. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). To see her customs denigrated at this stage of her personal development was devastating.12 Despite that negative experience, Maathai remained proud of her culture and valued indigenous knowledge and related stories. Maathai and other writers have described at length the methodologies and approaches utilized by the GBM to reach out to rural women, building awareness regarding the needs of the environment and the adoption of relevant innovations.31 Such were the modalities and characteristics of the movement, resulting in a culture of tree planting that was nurtured widely among Kenyans. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. These agrarian reforms were adopted and intensified by the postcolonial government, leading to the increased degradation of rural areas. Within this paradigm, racism is viewed as the primary impact factor, or in the language of Wangari Maathai, racism is a "root cause." The study draws on the African philosophical framework of Maat as a lens through which to view Maathai's philosophy, and which provides conceptual grounding for understanding that philosophy. In honor and admiration of the mother and father of Jesus, she took the forenames Mary Josephine, and became popularly known among her colleagues in high school and college as Mary Jo. Maathai was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica College (now Benedictine College; B.S. endobj The World Conference on Women held in Mexico (1975) and subsequent ones in Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), and Beijing (1995) set the stage for fundamental changes in gender policies, relations, and for womens participation in development and leadership.49, International discourse on the environment and climate change also advanced after the Stockholm conference through a series of initiatives culminating in the United Nations Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED), Earth Summit (1992), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg, South Africa (2002).50 Such discourse broadened debates on development, giving critical attention to issues surrounding the environment and climate change. They are, however, not responsible for the views expressed herein or the interpretations given in the article. 26 0 obj The Early Years and Education "It was during the mbura ya njahi - the season of long rains, in 1940 that Wangari Maathai was born. Wangari Maathai is a young woman who saw deforestation turn the lush lands of Kenya into a barren desert. Wanyiri Kihoro, Never Say Die: The Chronicle of a Political Prisoner (Nairobi, Kenya: East African Education Publishers, 1998). To the school calendar. She began teaching in the Department of Veterinary Anatomy at the University of Nairobi after graduation, and in 1977 she became chair of the department. 5. endobj This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wangari-Maathai, The Nobel Prize - Biography of Wangari Maathai, Wangari Muta Maathai - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Wangari Maathai - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). A meeting with Prof. Reinhold Hofmann from the University of Giessen in Germany provided an opportunity not only for employment but also for the advancement of her field of interest at the upcoming university. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Under colonialism, indigenous Kenyan cultures were besieged. Maathais election to parliament was almost an anticlimax. First, it is necessary to interrogate and appreciate the less than ideal circumstances under which the GBM rose and flourished. Wangari Maathai went to college in the United States, earning degrees from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas (1964) and the University of Pittsburgh (1966). 30. It is important to acknowledge that those relationships gave her work legitimacy, visibility, and recognition, and thereby ensured funding for the GBM and provided Maathai a measure of personal protection from the authoritarian regime. 11. I am sure that this honour will now usher in a new beginning with new sensibilities to match. Among them were the activists and the brokers of power. She benefited mainly from the tide of change which was sweeping the country, not because she had articulated her own political ideas.42. The death of Wangari Muta Maathai on September 25, 2011, left a rich heritage that continues to inspire men and women, old and young, and indeed the entire world as it grapples with the challenges of sustainable development goals and climate change. Lawrence M. Njoroge, A Century of Catholic Endeavour: Holy Ghost and Consolata Missions in Kenya (Nairobi, Kenya: Pauline Publications Africa, 2000); Samuel G. Kibicho, God and Revelation in an African Context (Nairobi, Kenya: Action Publishers, 2006); and David P. Sandgren, Mau Maus Children: The Making of Kenyas Postcolonial Elite (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2012). Wangari Muta Maathai Anchor was a prominent Kenyan environmental and political activist. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. She had a bucolic childhood spent in the rural Kenyan countryside and was sent to St. Cecilia Intermediary, a mission school, for her primary education. She was the first woman to be awarded a PhD in veterinary sciences and the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Ecologist Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her years of work with women to reverse African deforestation. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. By becoming a full-time paid coordinator, Maathai brought much needed energy and courage into the movement at a critical time of its development. Africentrism. Her mother had a great deal of influence on her daughter as she grew up in the village. Interviews held on various dates in 2018 and 2019 with Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, Rev. Her concerns resonated with the needs and pains of ordinary mothers. The NCWK nurtured this initiative, enabling it to reach out and empower rural women. Early Life Using Wangar Maathai's biography Unbowed, this paper explores the role of. That she accompanied mothers of political detainees at the Freedom Corner to fight for the release of their incarcerated children is indicative of how she identified with the struggles of ordinary Kenyans in confronting an authoritarian regime. When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope. Maathai was a pragmatic rather than a dogmatic figure, with no rigid ideological stance in her engagement with the environment and the politics of Kenya. 61. Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. While working for the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1976, Maathai came up with . 25. She was elected to Kenyas National Assembly in 2002 with 98 percent of the vote, and in 2003 she was appointed assistant minister of environment, natural resources, and wildlife. In 1997 and 2002, Maathai ventured into electoral politics once more. Her family had established the precedent of educating girls, just as an older uncle had done.6 Together with her mother, Maathai left a settlers farm in Nakuru, where her father was working, to return to Ihithe village in the Nyeri districtone of the rural areas designated for Africans, termed native reserves,so that she could attend school. Mathaai was named Wangari at birth after her fathers mother, as was Gikuyu tradition. This was characterized by land grabbing, destruction of forests and wildlife, and by exploiting the complex dynamics between public service and engagement in private business. This, she did at high personal risk to her and to her friends. She was brought up, taught, encouraged, and mentored by womenher mother, village women, and teachers (nuns in particular). At the insistence of her mother and her brother Nderitu, Maathai was enrolled at a Presbyterian church Primary School, Ihitheand there began her exposure to Western education.8 This experience ignited a passion for education, which Maathai captured in later writings: How I longed to be able to write something and rub it out. Interviews held on various dates in 2018 and 2019 with Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, Rev. 27 0 obj The link was not copied. Instead the state officials preferred to create divisions among the GBM leadership rather than banish it. AfDB, Eminent Speakers Program, Wangari Maathai Underscores Importance of Good Governance in Poverty Reduction Efforts, October 27, 2010. (Nairobi, Kenya: Leadership Institute, 2011); and Wangari Maathai, Unbowed: One Womans Story (London: Arrow Books, 2006). She died on September 25, 2011, at the age . Justin Chang reviews Showing Up.Groban first auditioned to . This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Wangari Maathai, and supports the standard of individuals' achievements and contributions to environmental preservation. 1 Her homeland was established by the British as the East Africa Protectorate in 1895 and then became the Kenya Colony in 1920; the independent Republic of Kenya emerged in 1964 after gaining internal self-government the prior year. Maathais campaigns to empower women may have been rooted in these experiences of gender inequalities and marginalization.53, In the 80s most African countries underwent structural adjustment policies leading to economic and social reforms, the privatization of state enterprises, and the limitation of the role of the state in development activities.54 These externally initiated reforms impacted negatively on the provision of health, education, and other social services. Wangari Maathai: storyteller Wangari Maathai Lesson Plan: Write and Deliver a Persuasive Speech Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8 In this lesson plan, adaptable for grades 3-12, students explore BrainPOP resources to learn about Wangari Maathai, a global leader for women's rights and conservation. Our school calendar. Leaders of the Green Belt Movement established the Pan African Green Belt Network in 1986 in order to educate world leaders about conservation and environmental improvement. In 1966, Maathai returned to Kenya confident and with high hopes for making a contribution to the newly independent country. The GBM is thus credited with developing a culture of planting trees during important family, community, and national events. While her father was formally educated, her mother was not. Born in the midst of a world war and growing up among the conflicts and ambiguities of colonial domination, thereafter she cultivated, mobilized, and networked for a world of democratic and peaceful governance and sustainable development. He also discusses the place of indigenous languages in liberation from cultural enslavement in Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (Nairobi, Kenya: Heinemann Educational, 1986). Wangari Maathai Lesson Plan: Individual's Contributions Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8 *Click to open and customize your own copy of the Wangari Maathai Lesson Plan . She sat for the Kenya Primary Examination in 1951 and scored Grade One. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Fresh Air Weekend Fresh Air Weekend: NPR host Mary Louise Kelly; Josh Groban. 7. Most studies have focused on the societal importance of marriage and the negative effects of divorce on families. << /Type /XRef /Length 71 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Columns 4 /Predictor 12 >> /W [ 1 2 1 ] /Index [ 22 32 ] /Info 37 0 R /Root 24 0 R /Size 54 /Prev 82415 /ID [<27d5614c796589e23c265b2454e3ebce><27d5614c796589e23c265b2454e3ebce>] >> Children like Maathai, who were born near a missionary settlement, and whose parents allowed them to venture into the new teachings by Christian missionaries, had early access to Western education. Born on April 1, 1940 Wangari Maathai grew up in Nyeri County, located in the central highlands of Kenya. By then she had acquired world fame which transcended her position as a member of parliament and as an assistant minister of the environment and natural resourcesa position she was appointed to in January 2003. . The genius of Maathai and other women leaders was to turn this elite organization into a vehicle for the empowerment of rural women. During the period when Maathai was acquiring her education in Kenya and the United States (19521966), the respective colonial and independent governments were undertaking far-reaching agricultural reforms in central Kenya. Once again finding her options limited, she went on to pursue a doctorate from the University of Giessen in Germany. In her final years, she battled ovarian cancer. Her marriage brought another challenge in terms of what she could be called. Her resignation was accepted, but she was disqualified to stand as a candidate allegedly because she had not been registered as a voter. << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1638 >> These changes started with the alienation of large tracts of land for white settlement at the onset of British colonialism. 44. In reality, her environmental activism was part of a holistic approach to empowering women, advocating for democracy, and protecting the earth. In 1977, Wangari Maathai started a campaign that came to be known as the Green Belt Movement in her home country of Kenya. While working with the National Council of Women of Kenya, Maathai developed the idea that village women could improve the environment by planting trees to provide a fuel source and to slow the processes of deforestation and desertification. Wangari Maathai, environmental activist and politician, born 1 April 1940; died 25 . stream These changes were advocated by the R. J. M. Swynnerton Plan of 1954. 36. Wangari's Words to Live By . Her interactions with other womenher mother, teachers, and grassroots womenalso had a great impact on her work and commitment. When she was globally recognized with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, she became an instant national icon.59 Duncan Ndegwa, an outstanding public servant from Nyeri County, brought out this ironic situation in his congratulatory letter to Maathai when he wrote: Lest you forget, and far away from any vestiges of dignity, we have seen you being shoved aside if not totally ignored by the government, labeled feminine chauvinist and treated like a common criminal all for being principled and living for a cause. Kelly reflects on juggling motherhood and chasing the news. Her entire life was thus characterized by learning, critical observations, engagement, interactions with people, and advocacy for change. The Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai: Key Speeches and Articles, November 11, 2020. Of divorce on families who saw deforestation turn the lush lands of Kenya be awarded a in. 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