Wangari Maathai
Storyboard Text
- Hi! I'm Dr. Wangari Maathai!
- Let me introduce myself a little... I was born in Nyeri, a rural area of Kenya in 1940, and (not to toot my own horn), have reached some impressive milestones! Please allow me to share some of them with you....
- - BSc. degree (Scholastica College, Kansas)- 1964- MSc. degree (University of Pittsburgh) - 1966- PhD degree (University of Nairobi) - 1971
- I was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree!
- - Associate Professor - 1976- Chair of Veterinary Anatomy Department - 1977
- I was the first woman to hold these positions at the University of Nairobi, as well as the first female professor in Kenya!
- I have quite a few other accomplishments, but there's a few key ones that I'd like to share....
- -National Council of Women of Kenya - 1976-1987Woman of the Year award - 1983- Woman of the World award - 1989- Co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 African Campaign, seeking cancellation by the year 2000 of the debts owed by poor African countries - 1998- Elected to Kenyan parliament with 98% of the vote & appointed Asst. Minister for Environment, Natural Resources & Wildlife - 2002- Nobel Peace Prize - 2004
- The accomplishment about which I'm most proud and that I want to explain a bit more about is....
- THE GREEN BELT MOVEMENT!!!
- I started this grassroots, women-centered organization in 1976, and it's still going strong today!
- I recognize that gender equality promotes good socio-economic and political outcomes.
- I also recognize that women, especially those in rural, arid regions are disproportionately affected by climate change.
- Rural Kenyan women, like myself, were facing issues surrounding water, food and firewood scarcity. I believed these problems could be helped through the planting and growing of seedlings which would help with soil erosion, provide food and firewood, and assist with storing rainwater through restoring damaged watersheds.
- Through the GBM, women were educated about planting and the climate, working together to improve their areas and living conditions. Recognizing that women's labour is often not paid, they were also provided some compensation for their work.
- Through collaborating with these women, I came to understand some of the reasons behind their circumstances...
- Misplaced trust in corrupt leaders & a slow moving away from community-based ideals.
- To address these issues, the GBM developed a Community Empowerment and Education program , which teaches community members (mostly women) to understand how the links between human activities (including political decisions) and the environment are playing a part in their often impoverished situations.
- and that they could take leadership over their own circumstances and become change-makers!
- Women learned the power of working together,
- As we all know, though, when women start to make change, especially Black women, there's bound to be reaction! Because the GBM was also involved in not only empowering women, but such things as registering voters and staging protests against the building of a complex in Uhuru Park, I was not always a welcome voice...
- In an attempt to intimidate me, the government had the GBM audited, as well as had our headquarters removed from the government offices where it had been located. I was told that I should know my place as an African woman - respectful of men and quiet!
- As a pro-democracy advocate and outspoken critic of the Uhuru Park complex, I was targeted by Kenya's corrupt President, Daniel Arap Moi, and arrested on charges of sedition and treason. I spent almost two days in jail... it wouldn't be the last time I was imprisoned for my activism...
- I have participated in a hunger strike for the release of other political prisoners like myself, and been beaten unconscious for such participation.
- Despite the many obstacles I faced, continued arrests and attacks, I persevered, obtaining numerous awards and accolades along the way, as well as bringing international attention to not only issues in Kenya, but to the Green Belt Movement!
- The GBM has become an international organization! Since it's inception, the GBM has seen 51 million trees planted, and over 30,000 women trained in such things as forestry, food processing and bee-keeping. It's focus has expanded to reducing climate change worldwide, and it continues to push for political accountability in Kenya through continually calling leaders to task over deforestation, land-grabbing and corruption.
- The Green Belt Movement is a great example of a woman-led, women-centered, grassroots form of direct activism. I'm so proud of all the work that has been, and continues to be, accomplished!
- If you'd like to learn more about me and the Green Belt Movement, please see the next few slides for some reference links, as well as a video!
- Here's the real me!
- Image Attributions: (https://pixabay.com/en/hand-puppet-snowman-political-alex-784077/) - Yomare - License: Free for Commercial Use / No Attribution Required (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0)
Image Attributions
- https://pixabay.com/en/hand-puppet-snowman-political-alex-784077/ - Yomare - (License Free for Commercial Use / No Attribution Required (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0) )
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