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This left the NCWK in a precarious financial situation and effected the severing of relationships with many grassroots organizations. Another volume, The Challenge for Africa (2009), criticized Africas leadership as ineffectual and urged Africans to try to solve their problems without Western assistance. She is the recipient of 15 honorary degrees in science, law, humane letters, and public service, and 50+ awards and recognitions . Maathai is still remembered for her determined and persistent efforts to safeguard Uhuru Park and the Karura Forest for future generations, for her solidarity with mothers of political detainees, as well as her relentless efforts for peace and to end election-related violence in the Rift Valley region and in the country since 1992 when multiparty politics were allowed. 18. It also diffused opportunities for deepening an understanding of environment challenges in the country. << /Linearized 1 /L 82815 /H [ 810 195 ] /O 26 /E 63939 /N 11 /T 82414 >> 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. ed. 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. But as land consolidation and registration went on in central Kenya, it was men who were registered as owners, although it was women who cultivated the land. The NCWK nurtured this initiative, enabling it to reach out and empower rural women. 30. Maathai's atypical and yet symbolic biography draws on two primary texts: Wangari Maathai's (2006), Unbowed: A Memoir . endobj It was an area populated by the Gikuyu people who lived in scattered homesteads around which they cultivated food crops and kept livestock.1 British settlers engaged in large-scale farming within the district, while colonial administrators entrenched colonial rule. 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. 36. When you do it alone you run the risk that when you are no longer there nobody else will do it. 25. The Swynnerton Plan and subsequent government policies informed land settlement schemes which were funded by the British government to buy out white settler farmers, and to appease released Mau Mau detainees and landless people displaced as result of land consolidation in native reserves. These land reforms changed the social, economic, political, and ecological landscape of central Kenya, and affected village life and the environment where Maathai grew up. Wangari Maathai came from a family of Athomi (Maathai, Unbowed, 1112). Prof. Hofmann had a mission to fulfill at the emerging University College, Nairobi: to establish a Department of Veterinary Anatomy in the School of Veterinary Medicine. The Green Belt Movement, an organization she founded in 1977, had by the early 21st century planted some 30 million trees. 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. Both families migrated from the Nyeri District to the Rift Valley province in search of employment and land to cultivate. 59. In the midst of enormous challenges and obstacles, she created a formidable Green Belt Movement (GBM) to empower grassroots women. Maathais election to parliament was almost an anticlimax. Thus, the NCWK provided an appropriate platform to develop and experiment with innovative ideas such as the GBM. Primary Sources. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. She was indeed an African environmental icon as testified by her appointment to the prestigious position of goodwill ambassador for the Congo Basin rainforest ecosystem. Primary Sources Overview . In her lifetime, Dr. Wangari Maathai authored four books and numerous scientific publications. Our school calendar. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, Early States and State Formation in Africa, Historical Preservation and Cultural Heritage, Formal Education in Kenya and the United States, The Place of Wangari Maathai in Kenya, Africa, and the World, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.480, United Nations Conference on Human Environment, World Conference of the International Womens Year, United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, United Nations Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED), Earth Summit, World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Wangari Maathai: Key Speeches and Articles, Women, Gender, and Sexuality in East Africa. Maathai, Unbowed, 7. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. 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). 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. On this farm she interacted with ordinary people from other ethnic communities as well as foreigners. Her books and speeches were often enriched by illustrations from her cultural background despite the onslaught it had undergone during the exposure to missionary education and religion. 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. Her marriage brought another challenge in terms of what she could be called. In 1947, she returned to Ihithe, for lack of educational opportunities at the farm. Maathai was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. Her concerns resonated with the needs and pains of ordinary mothers. The GBM is thus credited with developing a culture of planting trees during important family, community, and national events. 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. . 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. She was recognized at once for doing no harm and for not upsetting the status quo. At college in the United States, she found it confusing to be referred as Miss Wangari. 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. 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. Local experiences also infused global thinking and appreciation of struggles for democratic governance, peace, and sustainable development. 32. In Gikuyu, they were known as Athomi. Ndegwa, Walking in Kenyatta Struggles, 6264, refers to the divisions this category of people brought into in the society. A decision to send Maathai to school was made by her mother at the instigation of Nderitu, an elder brother. Wangari Maathai was born as Wangari Muta on 1 April 1940 in the village of Ihithe in the central highlands of the colony of Kenya. The intention was to pacify central Kenya and create a favorable apolitical climate for consolidating the interests of settlers and the colonial administration. Mwangi, on the other hand, was working for a private corporation and was a business entrepreneur with political ambitions. The document argued that by creating a class of privileged rural farmers, the radicalization of peasants would be minimized, thus denying support for Mau Mau and other radical political elements. Maendeleo ya Wanawake was such a grassroots organization established during the colonial period and after independence had developed a countrywide network of grassroots affiliates.30. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. By becoming a full-time paid coordinator, Maathai brought much needed energy and courage into the movement at a critical time of its development. She could then be addressed as Miss Muta. 62. 48. Anyone can read what you share. 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. 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. When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope. The impact of changes in rural Kenya was complicated by emerging corruption among Kenyas elite. She sat for the Kenya Primary Examination in 1951 and scored Grade One. In some circles, her move in the direction of elective politics was seen as opportunistic.40 Fortunately, this did not ruin the GBM, a tragedy that often befalls institutions from which prominent leaders emerge. Initially, the NCWK was an organization led by urban elite women and intended to give a voice to womens organizations. Nevertheless, it was not easy balancing bringing up three children, earning a living, carving her identity, as well as navigating through turbulent political waters.29. These groups played critical roles in shaping the values and politics that she espoused for social justice, sustainable development, and climate change. [i] She was born in Nyeri, part of the rural region of Kenya on the 1st of April 1940. . Maathai had the unique opportunity of going to school when girls in her age group were typically not given the opportunity of doing so. 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. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, a non-governmental organization, which encourages women to plant trees to combat deforestation and environmental degradation. She was presented by Professor Ole Danbolt Mjs, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. In 2004, Prof. Maathai became the first African woman to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace". 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. Use these quotes in discussing Wangari Maathai's life and how her views and activities changed over the course of her lifetime. Political activist and environmentalist Wangari Maathai was trained to be a leader. Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, African History. This policy was implemented from the mid-1950s and accelerated in the 60s and 70s by the independent government of Kenya. Her work was often considered both unwelcome and subversive in her own country, where her outspokenness constituted stepping far outside traditional gender roles. Wangari Maathai. In the midst of her demanding career as an environmental and political activist, Maathai enjoyed motherhood and was very protective of her children. Maathai was shaped by her rural environmentin which she lived on her mothers farmas well as her missionary education and later, by her education in the United States and Germany. Hannah Wangechi Kinoti, African Ethics: Gikuyu Traditional Morality (Nairobi, Kenya: Catholic University of Eastern Africa Press, 2013). Her family was of Kikuyu origin, and her father was polygamous. Her entire life was thus characterized by learning, critical observations, engagement, interactions with people, and advocacy for change. Events around this election occasioned unsolicited media publicity for Maathai. To all of them, I am eternally grateful, as I am to the powerful who were willing to use their positions to protect me.37. Your recognition as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate has without doubt now confirmed your extraordinary identity in Tetu, Nyeri, Kenya, East Africa, Africa and the World.60. Colonialism in Kenya was a major force for social differentiation. In reality, her environmental activism was part of a holistic approach to empowering women, advocating for democracy, and protecting the earth. The experience of discrimination at the Department of Zoology led Maathai to look for opportunities elsewhere. These forms of marginalization of women were common in Kenya. In the United States Maathai landed at another Roman Catholic institution, known as Mount St. Scholastica College (later Benedictine College) where she majored in biology and minored in chemistry and German.19 Characteristically, Maathai was a keen learner in both the classroom and beyond. When she won the Nobel Prize in 2004, the committee commended her holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights, and womens rights in particular. Her first book, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience (1988; rev. 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. 51. University of Nairobi Research Archive, Citation on Professor Wangari Muta Maathai on her Conferment of the Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) I am sure that this honour will now usher in a new beginning with new sensibilities to match. 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). 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