By Felix Mwagara
WOMEN in Africa Continent now a days are becoming masculine because of their talent, flexibility as well as getting the higher education and then possessing different ranks in the politics, economics and social activities.
Culturally, by the time been African women were ignored and isolated and they are not allowed to compete with men who are the society took them as the last say in the different in their families.
But currently African women are shining not only in Africa but also in the world where by they are fighting strong with different men who culturally, in different religious faith are only support men and neglecting women.
The late Professor Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan woman in East Africa who revealing Africa continent and the world in general that woman if can be supported she can do different things so wonderful.
According to Wikipedia, Prof Maathai who is born in April 1, 1940 was a Kenyan environmental and political activist was courage in fighting people’s justice, to make sure that the environment conservation is respected to all human beings.
In connection to that, Prof Maathai is going to be remembered in large extent through her efforts of protecting democracy and also opposing corruption in her country.
Prof Maathai who is educated in the United States of America at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya was not afraiding any political figure who will go against the law as well as neglecting low income people (Ordinary people).
GREEN BELT MOVEMENT
According to Wikipedia, in the 1970s, Prof Maathai who is also known as ‘a queen of environment’ founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental which is a Non Governmental Organization (NG’O) focused on the planting trees, environmental conservation, as well as women's rights.
Prof Maathai moved into a small home she had purchased years before, and focused on the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK) which was an umbrella organization consisting of many different women's organizations in the country.
Prof Maathai, in the course of her work through the NCWK, she was approached by Wilhelm Elsrud, Executive Director of the Norwegian Forestry Society. Elsrud wished to partner with the Green Belt Movement and offered Prof Maathai the position of coordinator.
Apart from that, Prof Maathai also successfully fought off an attempt by the Daniel Arap Moi regime to build a 60 storey building at Uhuru Park, at the centre of Nairobi where a capital city of Kenya.
Moreover, Prof Maathai also joined mothers of political prisoners in a hunger strike in a quest to force then President Moi to free them.
The environmentalist later joined politics and was in 2002 elected the Member of Parliament for Tetu, Nyeri District and served as an Assistant Minister in the government of President Mwai Kibaki.
Due to so many efforts which conducted by Prof Maathai, in 2004 awarded the Nobel peace prize for her conservation efforts and also she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
On 25 September, 2011 Prof Maathai died of complications arising from ovarian cancer while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital in Kenya.
“Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come”
“In trying to explain this linkage, I was inspired by a traditional African tool that has three legs and a basin to sit on. To me the three legs represent three critical pillars of just and stable societies. The first leg stands for democratic space, where rights are respected, whether they are human rights, women's rights, children's rights, or environmental rights.
“The second represents sustainable and equitable management and resources. And the third stands for cultures of peace that are deliberately cultivated within communities and nations. The basin, or seat, represents society and its prospects for development.”
“Unless all three legs are in place, supporting the seat, no society can thrive. Neither can its citizens develop their skills and creativity. When one leg is missing, the seat is unstable; when two legs are missing, it is impossible to keep any state alive; and when no legs are available, the state is as good as a failed state. No development can take place in such a state either. Instead, conflict ensues.”
“Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect.”
“As I swept the last bit of dust, I made a covenant with myself: I will accept. Whatever will be, will be. I have a life to lead. I recalled words a friend had told me, the philosophy of her faith. "Life is a journey and a struggle," she had said.
"We cannot control it, but we can make the best of any situation." I was indeed in quite a situation. It was up to me to make the best of it.”
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