Maathai, Unbowed, 112, 144, 151155. She was not deterred by personal abuse and threats, and today this open space in the center of Nairobi is a testimony of her courage, persistence, and foresight. However, they were still straddling the line between their traditional culture and Western values.27 Their wedding was solemnized according to Gikuyu traditions and Western Christian trappings. . 59. 31. That the GBM withstood and survived harassment from the government of Kenya and its security apparatuses was a testimony to the strength and capacity of these networks. Other influential circumstances include an encounter on a settlers farm in the Nakuru region of Kenya, engagements with women in tree-planting ventures, and intense protracted struggles for the democratization of Kenya. Her adage that when we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope remains an inspiration. She straddled academic activities and civic engagement as a member of the NCWK and as a board member of the Environment Liaison Centre.45 As a highly educated woman, she gained visibility and much appreciation. Thus she became Wangari Muta Maathai, asserting her African identity and freedom to be known and called by the names she wanted (Maathai, Unbowed, 147). Daniel Branch, Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 19632012 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 249251; and Karuti Kanyinga and Duncan Okello, eds., Tensions and Reversals in Democratic Transitions: The Kenya 2007 General Elections (Nairobi, Kenya: Society for International Development and Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, 2010), 169. 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. 29. The Third Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 19, 2005; Sustained Development, Democracy, and Peace in Africa, Gwangju, South Korea, June 16, 2006; and the Keynote Address at the Second World Congress of Agroforestry, Nairobi, Kenya, August 24, 2009. But years later 34. Dr. Samuel Kobia, Annetta Miller, Harold Miller, Ms . In addition to her conservation work, Maathai was also an advocate for human rights, AIDS prevention, and womens issues, and she frequently represented these concerns at meetings of the United Nations General Assembly. endobj I'm very conscious of the fact that you can't do it alone. Her time in academia gave her opportunities to engage in voluntary community activities that were not strictly academic, although regarded as part of university community service. This experience exposed her, perhaps for the first time, to ethnic discrimination practiced by a lecturer at the college, who had originally given her the job offer.22 Later on, when employed by the university, she encountered gender discrimination with regard to salary and benefits, against which she fought energetically with her women colleagues. The first attempt in 1982 was blocked; in the 1997 attempt, she failed to secure a seat. Ecologist Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her years of work with women to reverse African deforestation. Corrections? Environmental Leader, Political Activist. Interviews held on various dates in 2018 and 2019 with Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, Rev. Although seen by some as an ill-advised move, in retrospect it proved a boon for the development of the GBM and the career of Maathai in environmental advocacy. She could then be addressed as Miss Muta. Justin Chang reviews Showing Up.Groban first auditioned to . 33. 39. Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist who dedicated her life to promoting sustainable development, democracy, and human rights. Maathai's atypical and yet symbolic biography draws on two primary texts: Wangari Maathai's (2006), Unbowed: A Memoir . As elites, they were keen to build careers, and acquire wealth and status in the emerging society. Murungi, In the Mud of Politics, 196199. While Maathai was cloistered in Catholic schools, the country was undergoing the turbulence of Mau Mau resistance against British colonialism. Maathais elder brother Nderitu was the first in the family to attend school, thereby creating a positive image of schooling and serving as an inspiration to his sister. 24 0 obj Agricultural cooperatives were established in rural areas to ensure that quality agricultural commodities were produced and marketed. These skills stayed with me wherever I went from then on.20 However, this educational experience failed to expose Maathai to the ongoing civil rights struggle or the intense debates in the United States at that time on the vagaries of the Vietnam War. Maendeleo ya Wanawake, an organization for the progress of women, started during the colonial period, was dedicated to support the welfare of African women, but in the postcolonial period became a vehicle for the participation of women in development. 36. 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. Yet in my various struggles I have been fortunate to receive the encouragement and support of many individuals and institutions both in Kenya and overseas, who have stood by me in difficult times. While working for the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1976, Maathai came up with . While her father was formally educated, her mother was not. Tutu described how it emerged and was contextualized in the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC); see Desmond Tutu, No Future without Forgiveness: A Personal Overview of South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 3032 and 165167. The resulting dislocation and labor migration initiated an environmental transformation that was accelerated in subsequent decades. In reality, her environmental activism was part of a holistic approach to empowering women, advocating for democracy, and protecting the earth. As a national school, Loreto High School provided Maathai with the opportunity to interact with girls from other ethnic groups in Kenya. xZF}W907s!d!c%:U]mT{/$uo_N>Br4@~{O[O^}ovp]n |~VJ[GOPZWer9_\RN.gz}z4bot#'t:U1m1bU.h]Y HRkC`X:w63u4_Hg~4R~0)(Jc)& AV{-1j$sNDD~OnyL>Re,LF*!j' M{1e%-lh O:0q|V6M1+a|k>>H.p`T@v5{b-. Fresh Air Weekend Fresh Air Weekend: NPR host Mary Louise Kelly; Josh Groban. 13. There her interest in the sciences was further nurtured by the Catholic nun teachers. This conspicuous trajectory rendered her quite visible and a target of concern by the authoritarian state and political system.32, Upon Maathai being elected chairperson in 1980, the largest member organization in the council, Maendeleo Ya Wanawake, withdrew its membership. Kenyan politician and environmental activist Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2004 for her involvement in "sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights, and women's rights in particular." She became the first Black African woman to achieve such an honor. 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. It was bolstered by the introduction of cash crops such as coffee, tea, pyrethrum, and the introduction of exotic dairy cows. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Wangari Maathai, The Challenge for Africa: A New Vision (London: William Heinemann, 2009); on culture, 160183; and on mother tongues, 220226. Wangar Maathai was a Kenyan social, political and environmental activist who was a leading figure in the environmentalist movement in Africa and across the world. Wangari Muta Maathai dedicated her life to solving some of these key issues in Kenya and the world. 12. 44. Christian missionaries, in corollary fashion, established mission stations for evangelism and offered limited basic education to the indigenous people.2 In the community where Maathai was raised there was limited interaction with other Kenyan ethnic communities, although sporadic interaction with Maasai herders in their quest for grazing areas was common. Maathais academic studies at Mount St. Scholastica College prepared her for entry into graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh in 1964, where she completed a masters degree in biology before returning to Kenya early1966. Their divorce was highly publicized. Maathai played an active part in the struggle for democracy in Kenya, and belonged to the opposition . In the midst of enormous challenges and obstacles, she created a formidable Green Belt Movement (GBM) to empower grassroots women. 55. endobj In her lifetime, Dr. Wangari Maathai authored four books and numerous scientific publications. Upon entry into St. Cecilias Intermediate Primary School, she embraced Roman Catholic teachings, especially the Legion of Mary. Childhood & Early Life. Later Years and Death. In 2004, Maathai was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her contribution to protecting the environment and empowering women in Africa. In 1979, when she vied for the position of chairperson, she encountered ethnic and political intrigues, and personal innuendos, citing her as a divorced and educated woman. Primary Sources. Her marriage brought another challenge in terms of what she could be called. Alan Fowler, Striking a Balance: Guide to Enhancing the Effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations in International Development (London: Earthscan Publications, 1997). When conflict engulfed central Kenya and some men went into the forest to fight and others detained, it was women who took care of their families: providing food, building houses, and in some cases educating children.52 When Maathai came home during the school holidays, this was the reality that confronted her. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Maathai was born in polygamous family. 1. Wangari Maathai, the most prominent environmental activist in Africa, was the 2004 recipient of the Alfred Nobel Peace Prize. It focused on the value of tree-planting programs, as well as dealing with environmental deterioration in rural areas resulting from the intensified cultivation of cash crops and population growth. << /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>] >> The Green Belt Movement, an organization she founded in 1977, had by the early 21st century planted some 30 million trees. The impact of changes in rural Kenya was complicated by emerging corruption among Kenyas elite. 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. 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. Kibicho, God and Revelation, 72168. 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. He eventually became a member of parliament for a constituency in Nairobi. She was allocated a mini garden by her mother to cultivate and to learn practically how to care for plants. By becoming a full-time paid coordinator, Maathai brought much needed energy and courage into the movement at a critical time of its development. 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 daughter of a peasant farmer and the third . Maathai, Wangari. Maathais election to parliament was almost an anticlimax. Maathai was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica College (now Benedictine College; B.S. Wangari Maathai, in full Wangari Muta Maathai, (born April 1, 1940, Nyeri, Kenyadied September 25, 2011, Nairobi), Kenyan politician and environmental activist who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace, becoming the first Black African woman to win a Nobel Prize. The separation between the NCWK and the GBM that occurred in 1987 as a result of political pressure from the Moi regime, proved another milestone in the development of the identity and stature of Maathai as an environmental activist. In these initial attempts, no distinct ideological orientation or program of action could distinguish her from other politicians in the country. She became the first woman in East and Central Africa to acquire such an academic degree.24 With her academic career assured in the new University of Nairobi, she became the chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy in 1976, and thereafter an associate professorthe first indigenous woman to acquire the rank. This policy was implemented from the mid-1950s and accelerated in the 60s and 70s by the independent government of Kenya. The contending social forces of the colonial period persisted in postcolonial Kenya, impinging on the concept of modern marriage and incipient African womanhood. This source greatly helped my understanding of the Local experiences also infused global thinking and appreciation of struggles for democratic governance, peace, and sustainable development. 17. Maathais parents were among the first people to interact with and gain some education from the missionaries (athomi or asomi). << /Linearized 1 /L 82815 /H [ 810 195 ] /O 26 /E 63939 /N 11 /T 82414 >> 56. The couple had similar family backgrounds. When they got married, she changed her name to Wangari Mathai, which she initially resisted, but did so on the insistence of her husband. Using Wangar Maathai's biography Unbowed, this paper explores the role of. It thus became a critical constituency for experimenting with new ideas. The life of Wangari Muta Maathai (19402011) was strongly shaped by her rural environment, missionary education, and exposure to university education in the United States and Germany. Colonialism in Kenya was a major force for social differentiation. She was recognized at once for doing no harm and for not upsetting the status quo. Richard Jolly, Underestimated Influence: UN Contributions to Development Ideas, Leadership, Influence and Impact, in International Development: Ideas, Experience, and Prospects, ed. During this period the GBM thrived, leading to the recognition of Maathai. Dr. Samuel Kobia, Annetta Miller, Harold Miller, Ms. Lillian W. Mwaura, Mr. Joshua S. Muiru, Ms. Njeri Muhoro, Prof. Gideon Cyrus Mutiso, and Mr. Titus K. Muya. Dr. Wangar Muta Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. 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. As a result of the movements activism, similar initiatives were begun in other African countries, including Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. Modern farming methods were introduced to small-scale farmers through the provision of extension services and credit facilities. Through interaction with the nuns, Maathai gained the Christian values of respect for the dignity of all human beings.14 Most of these blended well with the Gikuyu values of hard work, respect for fellow humans, and an appreciation for the dignity and wisdom derived from being a member of a community, referred to elsewhere as ubuntu.15 In many respects she became ecumenical, embracing religious ideas and values from other world faiths, especially as they related to the protection of the environment.16 Although she was one of the educated girls, she never lost touch with her rural roots and the common people. Each of these fields of her engagement merit detailed analysis as was done with the GBM. Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) was the founder of the Green Belt Movement and the Wangari Maathai Institute. Member organizations were usually part of a countrywide network that resonated with concerns of grassroots women. 11. Thirdly, the prevailing circumstances, both personal and organizational, called for the strengthening of the NCWK and the GBM by building networks and partnerships to facilitate funding and support. She was presented by Professor Ole Danbolt Mjs, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Wangari's Words to Live By . Located between the Aberdares Mountains and Mount Kenya, the Nyeri District was well known as the epicenter of Gikuyu resistance to colonialism and the imposition of colonial taxation. She was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In 1966, Maathai returned to Kenya confident and with high hopes for making a contribution to the newly independent country. The continued existence of the Karura Forest in the outskirts of Nairobi city is another hallmark of her courage. Maathai was born in a small rural village known as Ihithe in the Tetu division in what was then the Nyeri District. Maathai is internationally renowned for her unrelenting efforts in advocating democracy, environmental conservation and human rights. He offered Maathai the job of a research assistant on the basis of skills acquired during her studies and work exposure in the United States.23. The Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai: Key Speeches and Articles, November 11, 2020. As Maathai ascended to the leadership of the NCWK and the GBM, international concerns and thinking with regard to the linkages between development and environment were evolving and shaping global discourse and the engagement of governments, international agencies, and NGOs. 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