Wangari Maathai

Hello! My name is Wangari. A long time ago, on April 1st, 1940, I was born in a beautiful country called Kenya. When I was a little girl, I loved the world all around me. I loved the tall, green trees that stretched their arms up to the sun. I loved the clear streams that giggled and danced over the little rocks. My favorite thing to do was help my mother in our garden. I would poke tiny seeds into the warm dirt and watch them grow into yummy food for us to eat. It felt like magic.

As I grew up, I noticed something that made me feel very sad. People were cutting down the big, beautiful trees. With the trees gone, the streams stopped giggling and became quiet. The birds had fewer places to build their nests and sing their happy songs. The land looked tired and bare. It made my heart feel tired, too. I knew I had to do something to help our wonderful Earth feel happy and strong again.

Then, I had a simple, wonderful idea. What if we planted new trees? Trees are so amazing. They give us cool shade to play in on a sunny day. They give us yummy fruit to eat and help keep our water clean and fresh. I asked the other women in my village to help me. I said, 'Let’s plant trees.' Together, we started planting little baby trees. We called our group the Green Belt Movement because we were giving our country a big, green hug made of trees.

We planted one tree, then another, and another. Soon, we had planted millions of new trees all over Kenya. It was so exciting to see the green leaves sprout and grow. The birds came back to sing in the branches, and the streams started to flow and giggle again. For helping the Earth, I was given a very special award called the Nobel Peace Prize. I lived a long, happy life, and then I died. But the trees we planted keep growing. Remember, even if you are small, you can do big things to make our world a more beautiful place, one little seed at a time.