Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Wangari Maathai
I once worked for an organization in Los Angeles that planted 1,000,000 trees in time for the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games held there. That was considered a tremendous feat for a small environmental organization. Huge. The whole city celebrated the effort.
Well, read on about Wangari Maathai of Kenya, the recent 2004 Nobel Peace Prize awardee, who founded the Green Belt Movement and for 30 years has helped other women in her position to plant 30,000,000 trees around Africa. Thirty million!! That's 3-0. Can you image that? She has had to fight poverty, oppressive governments and strongly patriarchal societies to get the job done in becoming the first woman from Africa and the first, man or woman, from Saharan Africa to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 103 years. She is also the first environmentalist to be awarded the Prize. A true warrior and all and all nice person, to say the least.
Well, read on about Wangari Maathai of Kenya, the recent 2004 Nobel Peace Prize awardee, who founded the Green Belt Movement and for 30 years has helped other women in her position to plant 30,000,000 trees around Africa. Thirty million!! That's 3-0. Can you image that? She has had to fight poverty, oppressive governments and strongly patriarchal societies to get the job done in becoming the first woman from Africa and the first, man or woman, from Saharan Africa to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 103 years. She is also the first environmentalist to be awarded the Prize. A true warrior and all and all nice person, to say the least.
