Womens Role In Improving Community Welfare

Running head: WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 1

Women’s Role in Improving Community Welfare: Wangari Maathai

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WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 2

Women’s Role in Improving Community Welfare: Wangari Maathai

Even though Wangari Maathai was raised in an African country where at that time,

colonization and poverty prowled the communities, she was envisioned in introducing

sustainable development, especially among women whose rights had been demeaned and

unacknowledged by the society. Her struggle for education and life, in general, portrayed a

woman who was committed to eradicating poverty while still ensuring that natural resources

were saved from human encroachment. Through her life, as expounded in her book, Unbowed,

we acknowledge the contribution of African women to the enhancement of the welfare of the

society on critical fronts, such as education, politics and social welfares.

Maathai’s Commitment towards Improving Kenyan Society

Maathai decided to break the denial of education to women by ensuring that she pursues

education to the peak (Maathai, 2008). Even though she was a woman, she decidedly joined

school, an unusual practice for young girls in the African set up (Scott, 2013). Evidently, her

determination to prove that women were equally capable of attaining education was

demonstrated using her continued emphasis on academics while other girls were married off at

puberty. Education was the root course of her future commitment to empowering women.

Even though the Africans in Kenya were engaged in a physical war with the colonialists,

she certainly knew that gaining education was the best way to improve the welfare of his people

(Maathai, 2008; Scott, 2013). While at school, Mau Mau war developed, which was a protest by

Africans whose land had been grabbed by the whites. At this time, she moved from the catholic

primary school to Loreto Girls High School, where she underwent her secondary education. In

her desire for further education she sought and got a scholarship in Mount St. scholastic College

WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 3

in Atchison, Kansas in the year 1964. After gaining such educational heights, she could reason

with leaders who had been granted the leadership mantle from the colonialists. She hoped to

work closely with them to improve the welfare of the people (Scott, 2013).

Back in the country, independence was coming fast, and the whites had acknowledged

the fact that soon, Kenya was going to be a liberal country with an independent government.

Clearly, this was a result of war and the increased outcry from the educated Africans, for the

need to end the oppression that was perpetrated by the Whites regime. The fight for

independence had been as a result of war (Mau Mau revolution) and peace talks in the country.

The war leaders could not lead the country properly as they had no education nor required

government leadership skills. Therefore, people like Wangari Maathai were the appropriate

leaders of the country, once they gain knowledge that she was pursuing abroad (Scott, 3013).

While Maathai was in the United States, she realized that there was extreme racism in the

country. However, she decided not to succumb to the oppression that Black Americans were

suffering from. Even though this would extensively affect her study, as an African woman all

the way from Kenya, she did not give up. In fact, after finishing her undergraduate’s degree, she

pursued her studies at a master level, still in the United States. She attained a Master of Science

degree from the University of Pittsburgh in the year 1966.

Having achieved a master’s degree, she came back to her motherland, where the country

had just attained independence and full of a promising future. She loved her country. She was

happy to finally join the citizens as they continue building their country to the level of glory she

had just witnessed in the United States. She had already fallen in love with the president’s speech

WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 4

as she heard it from a car as she was driven from the airport after landing in Kenya. She made up

her kind to use her knowledge to contribute to the development of the country.

In her desire to end the destruction of the environment, she wanted to join the parliament,

from where she could quickly develop her agenda, by airing her concerns about the degradation

of the environment. However, she was denied a chance, and her job was taken away from her.

She later realized that her teaching job had been given someone else (Scott, 2013). She had no

job, no money. Luckily, she just had so much time to commit to her GBM, her new organization

that was rapidly growing across the country. The organization's growth can be traced to the unity

of women who had become members (Scott, 2013). Her genuine commitment to stemming

societal problem saw the organization receive funding from overseas countries in Europe and the

United States. She used this fortune to empower the society, especially women through planting

trees and financing community projects that were engendered towards poverty eradication.

Later on, she discovered that the environment was being destroyed by the increasing rate

of deforestation, as soil erosion was extensively taking huge chunks of the rich top soil (Jungck,

1985). This was causing suffering among many people as well as animals. She knew that she had

to do something to save the environment. Her resolution yielded the Green Belt Movement. This

was a movement that would ensure that forest cover is reinstalled using the planted trees. In

addition to returning the forest cover, the movement gave women an opportunity to earn income

as they could sell the trees and sustain their life (Napoli, 2012). This double-edged project gained

popularity fast and would preoccupy her for the rest of her life.

Maathai was keen to oppose insensible development projects that the government wanted

to run. One of her biggest fight against misappropriation of funds was when she went against the

WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 5

government as it was about to set off a building project of a sixty-floor house that would be

erected at Uhuru Park. She wrote to international organizations and journalists about what the

government wanted to do, a fight that saw her company kicked out of her renting building and

relocated to her home. Eventually, she won the fight against the government which relented and

quitted the project. The positive result of this attempt was that she developed a seed of

opposition and democracy. This seed would later grow into the multiparty system as the country

had remained a one-party state, a condition that spearheaded a disguised tyrannical government.

Using her influence, she scared President Moi, who saw that his government was

becoming weak under the hands of Wangari Maathai. He embarked on provoking tribal wars, a

divide and rule policy, that would redirect attention from his atrocities to the new havoc along

the Kenyan tribes. Maathai took the saving mantle of the country and sought diplomatic help

from countries that would listen to her woe. She, an African woman, was committed to saving

the country from a weak government that had caused many problems among the Kenyan

citizens.

The climax of her battle for improved welfare came when she objected the corrupt

government’s officials land grabbing exercise at Karura Forest (Jungck, 1985). The government

leaders would seize the land, cut the trees and use the plots for self-development such as building

houses. Those who were loyal to the government would be awarded huge chunks of public forest

land. The government was allocating the land in a biased way and did not consider the potential

effect of deforestation. The wrangle between her and the government led to more violence in the

country. More politicians, who were mainly men, joined the fight for democracy after Maathai

opened their eyes. She had been a core cause of the revolution that the country came to enjoy in

the year 2002 when a democratic, free and fair election was held, and a new president took over

WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 6

the leadership mantle. Her desire for the revolution, which had haunted her for years bore fruit,

in an election that saw her get a chance to be elected as a member of parliament. The fruits of her

work were magnified in the year 2004, when she was awarded the noble peace prize for her

effort to ensure that the community is still kept clean and trees are replanted, to conserve the

forest cover and environment at large.

Conclusion

Maathai’s life is a challenge to all women, especially those who come from societies

where women’s rights are abused and ignored (Maathai & Goodman, 2005). Having attained a

high academic profile, amidst poverty and cultural objection, she remains an example of a

woman with no bounds, in terms of personal achievements. According to Scott (2013), Maathai’s

life improvement agenda, which was intertwined with environmental conservation makes her a

role model to women aspiring to be political icons and global leaders in Kenya and other African

countries as well as the whole world. She had demonstrated courage that saw Kenya gain

multiparty democracy and still empower women through income generation as they plant trees.

Using the Nobel Peace Award, she promised to continue her commitment towards empowering

women and the poor while still protecting the environment and improving it through

afforestation of semi-desert regions.

WOMEN’S ROLE IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY WELFARE 7

References

Jungck, J. R. (1985). Wangari Maathai," Afforestation of the Desert." The American Biology`

Teacher, 47(2), 76-90.

Maathai, W. (2005). Nobel Peace Prize Speech: Nobel Lecture, Oslo, 10 December

2004. Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, 6(1), 195-201.

Maathai, W. (2008). Unbowed: A memoir. Anchor.

Maathai, W. (2011). Challenge for Africa. Sustainability Science, 6(1), 1-2.

Maathai, W., & Goodman, A. (2005). Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai on the

Environment, the War in Iraq, Debt, and Women's Equality: Interview with Amy

Goodman of Democracy Now! Tuesday, March 8th, 2005. Meridians: feminism, race,

transnationalism, 6(1), 202-215.

Napoli, D. J. (2012). Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya (with audio

recording). Simon and Schuster.

Scott, K. (2013). Peace Profile: Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. Peace

Review, 25(2), 299-306.

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Womens Role in Improving Community Welfare

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