Post by anansi on Sept 26, 2011 14:21:43 GMT -5
Wangari Maathai Dies at Age 71
Posted by nhodgson on September 26, 2011 7:07 AM
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Wangari Maathai, internationally recognized environmentalist from Kenya. First African woman to win the Nobel Peace Priz... Read More
Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and founder of the Green Belt Movement, has died at the age of 71 after battling cancer.
Mrs. Maathai was an outspoken advocate of human rights and environmental protection who garnered international attention with her environmental work in Kenya.
The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Mrs. Maatthai founded the Green Belt Movement, which started out paying women a few shillings to plant trees. Established in 1977, the movement is responsible for planting an estimated 45 million trees around Kenya, reports the BBC.
She was honored by the Nobel committee for taking “a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s rights in particular” and for providing “inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights.”
Born in 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya, Mrs. Maathai was a stand-out student who won a scholarship to study biology in Kansas before going on to obtain a doctorate in veterinary anatomy. According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, she was the first woman in East and Central Africa to possess such a degree.
Mrs. Maathai was an outspoken critic of government corruption who often found herself locked in political battles. While opposing a government-backed plan to build an enormous skyscraper in a Nairobi park, Maathai was labeled a “crazy woman” and was beaten unconscious by police, reports the New York Times. However the proposal to build the skyscraper was eventually overturned.
John Githongo, an anti-corruption campaigner in Kenya, told the New York Times, “Wangari Maathai was known to speak truth to power. She blazed a trail in whatever she did, whether it was in the environment, politics, whatever.”
In 2001, while rededicating herself to the fight to save the Karura Forest, Mrs. Maathai said, “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.”
“Her departure is untimely and a very great loss to all of us who knew her, as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine or those who admired her determination to make the world a peaceful, healthy and better place for all of us,” said a statement on the website of the Green Belt Movement.
www.thirdage.com/news/wangari-maathai-dies-at-age-71_09-26-2011?page=1
Posted by nhodgson on September 26, 2011 7:07 AM
share this story
Wangari Maathai, internationally recognized environmentalist from Kenya. First African woman to win the Nobel Peace Priz... Read More
Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmentalist and founder of the Green Belt Movement, has died at the age of 71 after battling cancer.
Mrs. Maathai was an outspoken advocate of human rights and environmental protection who garnered international attention with her environmental work in Kenya.
The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Mrs. Maatthai founded the Green Belt Movement, which started out paying women a few shillings to plant trees. Established in 1977, the movement is responsible for planting an estimated 45 million trees around Kenya, reports the BBC.
She was honored by the Nobel committee for taking “a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s rights in particular” and for providing “inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights.”
Born in 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya, Mrs. Maathai was a stand-out student who won a scholarship to study biology in Kansas before going on to obtain a doctorate in veterinary anatomy. According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, she was the first woman in East and Central Africa to possess such a degree.
Mrs. Maathai was an outspoken critic of government corruption who often found herself locked in political battles. While opposing a government-backed plan to build an enormous skyscraper in a Nairobi park, Maathai was labeled a “crazy woman” and was beaten unconscious by police, reports the New York Times. However the proposal to build the skyscraper was eventually overturned.
John Githongo, an anti-corruption campaigner in Kenya, told the New York Times, “Wangari Maathai was known to speak truth to power. She blazed a trail in whatever she did, whether it was in the environment, politics, whatever.”
In 2001, while rededicating herself to the fight to save the Karura Forest, Mrs. Maathai said, “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.”
“Her departure is untimely and a very great loss to all of us who knew her, as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine or those who admired her determination to make the world a peaceful, healthy and better place for all of us,” said a statement on the website of the Green Belt Movement.
www.thirdage.com/news/wangari-maathai-dies-at-age-71_09-26-2011?page=1