Filling a Found Need by Bernel L. Davis

Filling a Found Need                                                     by   Bernel L. Davis

                                                                    “It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what

                                                                     will make the difference. My little thing is

                                                                     planting trees.” 

                                                                                               Wangari Muta Maathai

            In 1977, Wangari Maathai—after having recognized the need for the expansion of sustainable agriculture in rural Kenya—launched the Green Belt Movement.  Since then, the movement has partnered with the United Nations’ Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign.

            In the interim, Maathai sought to help villagers solidify their self-respect through working to better the conditions they lived in.  When she returned home after pursuing an education abroad, Wangari was appalled to find that farmers had dug up ancient fig trees in favor of expanding room to plant commercial crops.  In response to outside influence, farmers had completely changed the village ecology and disrupted the pleasant way of life she recalled from her childhood.  Wngari had left behind a self-sufficient, respectable community wherein there was always comradeship and food enough for all.  Now, women complained of having less food for their families; they also complained of the need to walk further and further to find sufficient water for daily household use.  People of the neighborhood began to feel helpless and dispirited (Maathai).

            Determined to empower her community, Maathai began holding education sessions.  These sessions were designed to show residents that they could act on their own behalf, not just react to what appeared to be more powerful forces.  Slowly, the villagers began to respond; they agreed to plant trees to protect their environment. 

            Once the people became active, they found themselves, indeed, having to face those who would control their efforts.  In the process of planting trees on public land, the villagers encountered strong opposition from government agencies and would-be public land grabbers.  But Wangari Maathai was a leader; she did not back down.  At the cost of personal injury from hired thugs, attempted humiliation, and multiple imprisonments, she led the Green Belt Movement through the planting of more than 40 million trees (essay).

            In 2004, Wangari Muta Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first time the award was presented to an environmentalist.  “If you destroy the forest then the river will stop flowing, the rains will become irregular, the crops will fail, and you will die of hunger and starvation,” said Dr. Wangari Maathai (essay).

Sources:

Essay  “The Green Belt Movement Essay.”  Essays/History/the-green-belt-movement.html

Maathai, Wangari M.  The Green Belt Movement.

Movement, Green Belt   “Our History.”