Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai tells the beautiful story of a tiny hummingbird determined to save its home from a destructive forest fire. Facing criticism from the other animals for being too small to make a difference, all the hummingbird can do is its best. “And that to me is what all of us should do,” says Maathai.
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan activist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner who passed away on September 25, 2011. She founded the Green Belt Movement, which has trained women throughout Africa to combat deforestation, in part through the planting of more than 40 million trees. The movement’s other task is to expand what Maathai called “democratic space,” in which ordinary citizens could make decisions on their own behalf to benefit themselves, their community, their country, and the environment that sustains them.
Wangari Maathai: What role does spirituality play in our work to heal the earth?
Václav Havel called it “the power of the powerless.” How regular people, from Denmark to Liberia, have stood up to power—and won.
Thousands of grassroots, African-led efforts are building locally rooted alternatives to the chemical agriculture promoted by the Gates Foundation and Monsanto.
The above resources accompany the December 2011 YES! Education Connection Newsletter
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