As long as Nature lives,Wangari will live too



As long as Nature lives,Wangari Maathai will live too;because Nature was Wangari and Wangari was Nature.
When girls her age were obedient enough to fetch firewood & water to contribute to their families' well being,Wangari was obedient enough to a more worthy cause; to conserve what she was supposed to be destroying:Nature.I do not want to imagine the implications of such an attitude amongst a community that believed that a woman's rightful place was in the kitchen.I don't even want to imagine the pain as she fought to preserve Karura Forest;i do not want to think of the length she went while serving her country,her constituents,her family,and the world in general.I do not want to imagine her battle with Ovarian Cancer that she succumbed to on the 25th day of September 2011.
If there is one patron of sustainable development,peace and human security alongside  Bishop Desmond Tutu,it is none other than this Daughter of Africa.She founded the Green Belt Movement 30 years ago with an aim of planting trees as a way of conserving the environment;upto date, the movement has planted more than 40 Million trees in Kenya(meaning that literally,every single Kenyan has planted at least a tree).While doing so,she concentrated on empowering the most impoverished people as well as women and girls.Popularly known as 'the humming bird',she will be remembered for her motivation towards action;no matter how small & insignificant a humming bird may seem in a forest full of elephants,buffalos,Hippos,Lions etc,without it's humming(which it does by it's tail,not by the mouth),the forest would be so lifeless.She stressed the fact that we all should be 'humming birds' wherever we are;that we should do something no matter how minute.Wangari was not concerned about what her country was doing for her;she was beaten up,had tear gas thrown at her,arrested & tortured;but she defied the cliché that violence begets violence:she was concerned about doing something for her country;and yes she succeeded. 
She was an Alpha woman with a difference;she was always first in everything;The First Woman in East Africa to get a PHD,the First African Woman to be honored with a Nobel Peace Price in 2004,the First African Woman to receive a French Honor to mention but a few;Wangari was a true symbol of Hope for Africa & the world in General.
To quote one of her popular quotes


"To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our hope and our future."





It's our time to help conserve a legacy she fought so hard to build,so that her fight in life is not in vain.
Mama Mazingira,you fought a good race,and you have won the fight.You fought so many battles,and finally you won the war.Because of you,Africa has more empowered women,impoverished people's lives have been changed,African people can access clean water ,because of you,i am aware that nature exists,that nature is everything,that nature is reactive.
Like we sometimes do to nature,we failed to honor you when it mattered,we failed to listen to you when you needed a listening ear,we fought you when you need a helping hand:Forgive our selfishness.
Your legacy will live forever.
Sleep Well Daughter of Africa,You are now with the love of your life;Nature.Your life has not ended;it has just began.I will plant more trees in your honor.

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