Additionally, Maathai’s concern with helping women help themselves in developing nations is a very noble and important cause, and I truly admire this work. Her devotion to improving her homeland and making environmental awareness international made me want to be more careful about how I interact with this environment. I chose this book specifically because I did not know who Wangari Maathai is, and the enormous difference she has made in the environmental movement was really interesting to read about. Maathai won a Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental work in 2004. She even gave seedlings to soldiers and prisoners and emphasized the importance of taking care of the environment. With the success of her idea fresh on her mind, Maathai began speaking at schools and teaching children how to cultivate their own nurseries. Though the work took time and effort, the community became closer, healthier, and was able to grow its own food again. Maathai suggested that her community help change their own lives by replanting the fig trees that used to be so plentiful. Although many people blamed the government and the economy for their hardships, Maathai’s community was a part of the problem: they cut down the trees that were so essential for topsoil maintenance.
The farming caused topsoil erosion and changes in the landscape. When she returns, Kenya’s rich landscape had been farmed to excess for profit and people had to search more diligently for clean water and work harder for less healthy food. Maathai leaves Kenya, however, to attend college in the United States. Wangari Maathai grew up in Kenya during a time when farmers worked the land for their own sustenance and when fig trees were plentiful and sacred. Title: Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai
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