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The Woman Who Planted Peace
Okay, I admit
it. When I heard that Wangari Maathai had won the Nobel Peace Prize,
my first thought was, "Wangari who?" I was clueless about her and
the environmental work she's been doing in Africa, perhaps because I
get most of my news from the American media, which offer positive
stories from Africa about as often as they offer positive stories
from Jupiter.
But I have
only myself to blame. If I had been a little disciplined in my
Internet searches, I might have learned more about the Kenyan
environmentalist and less about Russian tennis players. And I might
have saved a ton of space in my computer's "picture" folder.
So to mend my
ways, I decided to do some research on Dr. Maathai and was
immediately impressed. Not only did she earn a doctorate degree, the
first woman in east Africa to do so, she also has more 'A's in her
name than I had in college.
Even more
impressive, she founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, persuading
thousands of women, all over
Africa,
to wear green belts. No, seriously, she and her army of
underprivileged women fought deforestation and helped renew their
primary source of cooking fuel by planting 30 million trees. That's
a lot of trees, folks, almost as many as Bill Clinton used up for
his memoir.
Dr. Maathai,
in supporting Kenya's parks, wildlife and forests, was willing to
challenge the regime of former President Daniel arap Moi and for
that she was beaten and jailed. The president and other men didn't
mind her being an environmentalist, as long as she focused on the
environment every woman should care about, the one inside her
kitchen. Leave the big stuff to us, don't get in our way, and let us
know when dinner is ready.
A lesser woman
might have given up, but she continued to fight for women's rights
and democracy, eventually becoming a member of parliament and
assistant minister of environment. She's well-deserving of a Nobel
prize, but critics may wonder how her work pertains to peace and how
much time the five-member Nobel committee spent sniffing glue.
Committee
member: "Okay, let's review the nominations. America has nominated
George W. Bush for disarming Saddam Hussein of the weapons of mass
destruction he didn't have."
Chairman:
"Please thank them for their sense of humor. Next nominee please."
Member: "Australia
has nominated tennis player Lleyton Hewitt for making peace with a
Belgian tennis player. He has brought the two countries closer."
Chair: "Please
tell them that making peace is not the same as making love. Next
nominee please."
Member: "Kenya
has nominated environmentalist Dr. Wangari Maathai."
Chair: "An
environmentalist? What did she do -- negotiate a peace treaty
between air and water?"
Member: "Not
that I know."
Chair: "Did
she make peace with her ex-husband?"
Member: "Not
that I know."
Chair: "Did
she smoke a peace pipe?"
Member: "Not
that I know."
Chair: "So
what exactly did she do?"
Member: "She
planted a lot of trees."
Chair: "Are
they peaceful trees?"
In the end,
the committee made a wise choice. After all, as Dr. Maathai told
Norwegian television, "People are fighting over water, over food and
over other natural resources. When our resources become scarce, we
fight over them. In managing our resources and in sustainable
development, we plant the seeds of peace."
The seeds of
peace. How beautiful. That reminds me of a question I've been
meaning to ask you: Have you hugged a tree recently?
 Melvin
Durai is a U.S.-based writer and humorist who grew up
in Zambia. His weekly humour columns are read by thousands of
people in more than 90 countries. For an email subscription
to his columns, please visit his
website
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November 2004