Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Wangari Maathai
Many people round the world are paying tribute to Wangari Maathai who died on September 25th.
She was one of those people who just radiate life and energy around them.
I met her once at the breakfast we shared as delegates to a conference back in 1984
The memory of those few minutes of warm conversation will stay with me always. And not because she is the only Nobel Laureate I have personally met.
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee said when awarding her the 2004 prize:
“Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment. Maathai stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa. She has taken a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s rights in particular. She thinks globally and acts locally.”
All we can say to her now is ‘thank you for your life’….
See the webpage of her Green Belt movement in Kenya and this National Geographic newspage for a roundup of tributes.
Labels: environment, Kenya, womens rights
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