Tropics Magazine remembers Prof. Wangari Mutha Maathai's words

Wangari Maathai has died yesterday in Nairobi while undergoing cancer treatment. She was 71.
To remember her eternally, we have thought to compile a list of her best quotes while she was still alive. We will also like to all Africans to follow her path: do something memorable, leave an imprint on earth so you can be remembered forever.(By Venicia Guinot)

President Obama & Prof. Wangari Mutha Maathai

Here is the most prestigeous quotes on her philosophy of life. This we will never ever forget about this woman who has make an impact in many people's lives:

On her philosophy of life:

"My inspiration partly comes from my childhood experiences and observations of Nature in rural Kenya. It has been influenced and nurtured by the formal education I was privileged to receive in Kenya, the United States and Germany. As I was growing up, I witnessed forests being cleared and replaced by commercial plantations, which destroyed local biodiversity and the capacity of the forests to conserve water."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

"Anybody can dig a hole and plant a tree. But make sure it survives. You have to nurture it, you have to water it, you have to keep at it until it becomes rooted so it can take care or itself. There are so many enemies of trees."
From the article "This Much I Know", The Observer Magazine, 8 June 2008.

"In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

"It is wonderful when you don't have the fear, and a lot of the time I don't ... I focus on what needs to be done instead."
From the article "Planting the future", The Guardian, 16 February 2007.

"Those of us who have been privileged to receive education, skills, and experiences and even power must be role models for the next generation of leadership."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

"My time in America as a student was incredibly liberating. It was also troubling. It made me think about what the nuns in Kenya had told us. My previous education had been Victorian. I had been practically living the life of a nun, even though I hadn't taken holy orders."
From the article "This Much I Know", The Observer Magazine, 8 June 2008.

"To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our hope and our future."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

On environmental issues:

"We lived in a land abundant with shrubs, creepers, ferns and trees ... Because rain fell regularly and reliably, clean drinking water was everywhere. There were large, well-watered fields of maize, beans, wheat and vegetables. Hunger was virtually unknown."

From the article "Planting the future", The Guardian, 16 February 2007.

"I have seen rivers that were brown with silt become clean-flowing again ... The job is hardly over, but it no longer seems impossible."

From the article "Planting the future", The Guardian, 16 February 2007.

"Throughout Africa, women are the primary caretakers, holding significant responsibility for tilling the land and feeding their families. As a result, they are often the first to become aware of environmental damage as resources become scarce and incapable of sustaining their families."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

On culture:

"Culture plays a central role in the political, economic and social life of communities. Indeed, culture may be the missing link in the development of Africa. Culture is dynamic and evolves over time, consciously discarding retrogressive traditions, like female genital mutilation (FGM), and embracing aspects that are good and useful."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

"The traditional ways were wrongly disowned by Christianity - in hindsight, medicine men were not demons but very important counsellors in the community."
From the article "This Much I Know", The Observer Magazine, 8 June 2008.

"[W]e have planted over 30 million trees that provide fuel, food, shelter, and income to support their children's education and household needs. The activity also creates employment and improves soils and watersheds. Through their involvement, women gain some degree of power over their lives, especially their social and economic position and relevance in the family."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

"Using trees as a symbol of peace is in keeping with a widespread African tradition. For example, the elders of the Kikuyu carried a staff from the thigi tree that, when placed between two disputing sides, caused them to stop fighting and seek reconciliation. Many communities in Africa have these traditions."
From Wangari Maathai's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo, 10 December 2004.

May you Rest In Peace, Prof. Wangari Mutha Maathai, our LEGEND!

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