source: Conservation International

From Nairobi, I have travelled via Limuru, Naivasha, Nakuru, Timboroa, Nandi Hills,Kisumu, Bumala to reach the border in between Kenya and Uganda, Busia. On the 30th November, I cycled the last distance in and entered my 76th country Uganda. Till today, I have already cycled 812 kilometres from Nairobi to Jinja, Uganda, still a long distance to the capital city. It took me exactly 9 days to come this far.

Regrettably, I did not get to visit the wildlife nature parks that Kenya is especially famous for because of my tight schedule but I did visit the Green Belt Movement saved Uhuru Park situation right opposite the central business district of Nairobi. Wangari Maathai lost her job as an environmental and political activist in the 1989 trying to salvage the recreational park from getting destroyed with the globalizing industrialisation. That site had they not stood strong of their beliefs, love for their environment and their continuous protest to protect the land, a 60 story building would have graced the ground instead of a green park enjoyed by families, friends and everyone, even the businessmen and political parties.

The conservation movement lost a great hero and visionary with the passing of Africa’s first woman Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Maathai. She recently passed away on the 25th of September was quoted as saying “When I see Uhuru Park and contemplate its meaning, I feel compelled to fight for it so that my grandchildren may share that dream and that joy of freedom as they one day walk there.” She was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She became the first African woman and environmentalist to win the respectable honour.

But it’s not just the conservation movement that has lost a treasure — Wangari was ahead of her time in linking the health of our environment to human well-being. Wangari used the analogy of a three-legged African stool as the support on which human well-being depended. The three legs were the environment, democratic space and peace.

Wangari started with a simple idea to improve the lives of poor rural women in Kenya by planting trees. She saw the degradation of the native forests in Kenya and the impact this had on communities, especially the women: streams and rivers that dried up, lack of firewood, erosion of the soils. The world had not yet started to talk about food security and water security, but she saw the linkage of these things to the health of the environment.

As a result of her vision, millions of trees have been planted and women around the world have been inspired and mobilized to demand democracy, human rights, good governance and a healthy environment. It is for this achievement that her work and inspiration were recognized through the award of the Nobel Peace Prize.

But more than her vision, what made Wangari stand out were her humanity and the warmth of her personality, her smile, the twinkle in her eye and her laugh. There are few that can bring these things together in support of a vision and a cause in the way that Wangari Maathai was able. She was truly a master communicator; as she stood alone on a stage, she could make a thousand people fall in love with her in five minutes and be captivated by her simple and powerful message.

As the world mourns her loss, we must also celebrate her life. At the end of many speeches, she told a story about a forest fire. All the big animals stood around and did nothing — all except a little hummingbird, who flew frantically back and forth from a stream to the fire, each time carrying but one drop of water. All the other animals mocked the hummingbird for the futility of its efforts, but the humming bird replied, “I’m doing the best that I can.” That is what Wangari would want all of us to keep doing.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay my respect and admiration to the dear woman, the woman of great will and passion. She is missed by everyone and will be forever loved and looked up to by everyone, including me.

Reference: blog.conservation.org/2011/09/remembering-wangari-maathai/