A photo elicitation project representing Wangari Maathai

1. Wangari Maathai
Her life through her pictures, her
words, and the words of those who
knew her and reflections from nature
through the photos of a young
photographer
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2. Wangari Maathai on what her receipt of the Nobel Peace
Prize means for Africa
“I have received so many messages from
Kenyans—women, men and even children—
saying how happy they are and how proud they
feel as Kenyans and as Africans. I meet people
around Nairobi and they hug me with tears in
their eyes. This prize has given Kenyans a lot of
energy. It really is the icing on the cake after the
elections of 2002. While Kenya and Africa have
many challenges, this prize is a signal that there
is hope. For Kenyans, being recognized like this
means we have been given a special challenge. I
hope the Prize will inspire us as a government
and as a people to set a good example for Africa
and the rest of the world, to show them that no
matter what problems we face we can still protect
the environment and think of future generations.
The message for Africans is that the solutions to
our problems lie within us. The work we have
been doing with the Green Belt Movement is a
local response to a local problem.”
Waweru Mathai (son), Oprah Winfrey, Wangari
Maathai , Tom Cruise, Wanjira Mathai (daughter).
Picture taken at Oslo, Norway.
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3. “One can but marvel at her foresight and the scope of her
success. She was a true African heroine,” Desmond Tutu
Wangari spirited effort to plant trees was
to allow children enjoy a fresh future. She
once addressed a UNICEF children
conference and reminded children of the
benefit of education and the fight for a
good climate.
“Whatever you are doing, wherever you
are, do not feel discouraged. Be brave and
take advantage of the situation you are in.
Protect yourselves from distractive
activities and be strong! Allow yourself to
be healthy, to work hard, and do your
best. Stay in school! Especially for the
girls, I want to say the sky is the limit,
give yourself a chance,” she said.
Indeed, she loved children, and in another
message to the world’s children, Wangari
Maathai said, “There are many people
who love you, who care for you, who
want the best for you, and are working
day and night, to give you a better life.”
Photo by Daniel Mugo, taken in
Makueni, Kenya.
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4. Wangari Maathai on how youth can protect the environment
Baruani Ndume, who is an orphan, was awarded
the annual International Children's Peace Prize
for producing a radio programme for children in a
Tanzanian refugee camp by Kenyan Nobel Peace
laureate Wangari Maathai -
“I would like to call on young people to take
inspiration from the Nobel Peace Prize. I want
them to know that despite the challenges and
constraints they face, there is hope. I want to
encourage them to serve the common good.
My experiences have taught me that service to
others has its own special rewards. I also have a
lot of hope in youth. Their minds do not have to
be held back by old thinking about the
environment. And you don’t have to be rich or
give up everything to become active. Even simply
using both sides of a piece of paper before
recycling is conserving the environment. The
situation, however, is serious because the youth
of today will experience the consequences of
their elders’ mismanagement of the
environment.
Unless we change course, the coming generations
will inherit an impoverished environment that
will mean a hungrier, less fertile, and more
unstable world. More conflicts will erupt.”
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5. Wangari Maathai lead by example . She understood and acted
on the inextricable links between poverty, rights and
environmental sustainability.
“In the tropics, trees grow fast; in five to ten
years, you can use them for fencing, building, and
firewood. But planting a tree can also be an entry
point for communities to understand how to
restore their own resources. You can educate
people on how to preempt their own conflict.
http://www.oprah.com/world/O-Interviews-
Nobel-Prize-Winner-Wangari-
Maathai#ixzz1bOu7zP00
Maathai's parents taught her to respect the soil
and its bounty, and to love planting trees, she
says.
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Phenomenal-
Woman-Wangari-Maathai/2#ixzz1bOuW6WGx
Photo by Daniel Mugo, taken at Masinga
Dam, Kenya.
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6. Wangari Maathai on the environmental challenges facing Kenya
“In Kenya, few forests are left. The
population is increasing and there is not
enough land for everyone to grow crops.
For the last 80 years or so we have been
planting exotic species for the timber
industry, often in indigenous forests. As
the trees are planted, people are invited
to go into the forests and grow crops
along with the exotic trees. This is known
as the shamba system. It is something I
have been fighting to eliminate from
indigenous forests. I have been trying to
convince others in government and in the
community that we need to stop cutting
or cultivating crops in our indigenous
forests. When the forests are cleared,
rivers and streams dry up, biodiversity is
lost, and rainfall becomes erratic. This
threatens farmers’ livelihoods and has
negative impacts on other species as
habitats are lost.” Green Belt Movement
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7. Wangari Maathai on Climate Change
“Africa is the continent that will be hit hardest by
climate change. Unpredictable rains and
floods, prolonged droughts, subsequent crop failures
and rapid desertification, among other signs of global
warming, have in fact already begun to change the
face of Africa. The continent’s poor and vulnerable will
be particularly hit by the effects of rising temperatures
and, in some parts of the continent, temperatures
have been rising twice as fast as in the rest of the
world. In wealthy countries, the looming climate crisis
is a matter of concern, as it will affect both the
wellbeing of economies and people’s lives. In
Africa, however, a region that has hardly contributed
to climate change, its greenhouse gas emissions are
negligible when compared with the industrialized
worlds; it will be a matter of life and death.
Therefore, Africa must not remain silent in the face of
the realities of climate change and its causes. We have
a responsibility to protect the rights of generations, of
all species, that cannot speak for themselves today.
The global challenge of climate change requires that
we ask no less of our leaders, or ourselves.”
Photo by Daniel Mugo taken in Makueni 7

8. Wangari Maathai on the Women of the Green Belt Movement
“I placed my faith in the rural women of Kenya
from the very beginning, and they have been key
to the success of the Green Belt Movement.
Through this very hands-on method of growing
and planting trees, women have seen that they
have real choices about whether they are going to
sustain and restore the environment or destroy it.
In the process of education that takes place when
someone joins the Green Belt Movement, women
have become aware that planting trees or fighting
to save forests from being chopped down is part
of a larger mission to create a society that
respects democracy, decency, adherence to the
rule of law, human rights, and the rights of
women. Women also take on leadership
roles, running nurseries, working with
foresters, planning and implementing community-
based projects for water harvesting and food
security. All of these experiences contribute to
their developing more confidence in themselves
and more power over the direction of their lives.”
Green Belt Movement, Photo taken in 1983.
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9. In May 2006 Noble Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai addressed 7,000
international educators who had gathered in Montreal for NAFSA’s 58th
annual conference. Here is the story she shared about the hummingbird
One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest - a huge woodlands
was suddenly engulfed by a raging wild fire. Frightened, all the
animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came
to the edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they
were feeling very discouraged and powerless. They were all
bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them
thought there was nothing they could do about the fire, except
for one little hummingbird.
This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It
swooped into the stream and picked up a few drops of water and
went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back
to the stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and
again and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some
tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, "Don't
bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn,
your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you can't put out this fire.“
And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s
efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless and forlorn they looked.
Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the
hummingbird in a mocking voice, "What do you think you are
doing?" And the hummingbird, without wasting time or losing a
beat, looked back and said, "I am doing what I can.“
Photo by Daniel Mugo taken at the window of their home,
Nairobi Kenya
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10. As she told the world, "we must not tire, we must not give
up, we must persist." Her legacy will stand as an example to all
of us to persist in our pursuit of progress”, by Barack Obama
“I have invested 20 years of my life in this campaign
for the environment and I’m still only scratching the
surface. I am confident of winning. Nobody will
build anything [in the forest] as long as we live. We
cannot dignify theft.” "The reality that sustainable
development, democracy, and peace are indivisible
concepts should not be denied. Peace cannot exist
without equitable development, just as
development requires sustainable management of
the environment in a democratic and peaceful
space. In order to advance peace, we must promote
its underlying democratic institutions and ideals. In
large part, this is only possible if management of
the environment is pursued as a universal priority.
Only a holistic approach that takes these interlinked
factors into account can ensure
effective, ecologically sustainable development." --
Wangari Maathai, "An Unbreakable Link:
Peace, Environment, and Democracy," Harvard
International Review, vol. 29, issue 4 (Winter 2008).
“
Photo by Wangari Maathai.
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11. Wangari Maathai on Genuine Priesthood
“A genuine priesthood stands between a
community and its God, who chooses that
priesthood for itself so that it can stand
between it and its people to interpret the will
of their God to them. A genuine priesthood
nurtures the community, identifies with its
aspirations and concerns, and guides it
toward their God and their destiny. Such a
priesthood cannot be imposed from above; it
cannot exist in the absence of culture.
A foreign priesthood cannot recognize the
God of the colonized or its destiny; nor can it
cannot take them toward their God and
destiny. Led by a foreign priesthood, a people
will perish, either because the foreign
priesthood is genuinely unable to lead them
or because it deliberately leads them toward
the wrong God and the wrong destination.
This is one of the reasons why the
destruction of traditional priesthood,
through the destruction of culture, becomes
necessary to any colonizing power.”
Wangari Maathai standing at the statue of
Mahatma Gandhi.
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12. One lasting memory is Prof’s inimitable words “I’ve been
thinking…..” By Maggie Buxter
“Prof’s presence was felt wherever she went. I
remember a visit to Womankind when she simply
said thank you to everyone for what they were
doing to gain women’s rights around the world –
no lecture, just plain appreciation. On
international public platforms her presence added
gravitas. In attending training sessions with
colleagues she showed support and
solidarity. Small and big things, local and
global, bridging the communities of the elite and
the every day, never losing the sight of the reason
why it was important to do so. Her passion was to
gain human rights, human dignity and equality of
opportunity for those so often overlooked.
One lasting memory is Prof’s inimitable words
“I’ve been thinking…..” This used to come after a
night’s sleep on the previous day’s
deliberations, and always resulted in a change of
the decision of the day before. It became a
continuing joke at every meeting as well as a
dread that decisions would be revisited, unpicked
and remade! ”
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