1.5 Individual Matter: Wangari Maathai
17
1.5 Individual Matter: Wangari Maathai
Maathai (see Fig. 1.4) was a Kenyan environmental activist and politician who
served as the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources,
and Wildlife. She was awarded a Ph.D. that made her the first woman in Central
and East Africa to receive a doctorate (Napoli 2010). She won the Nobel Peace
Prize because of her “holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces
democracy, human rights, and women’s rights in particular.”
Maathai was born in 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya. Her father was a farmer who fully
supported the family, while Kenya was a British colony. Her family surprisingly
sent her to school, which was uncommon for Kenyan girls at the time. She excelled
in primary school and furthered her schooling at Loreto Girls’ High School. In
1960, she won a scholarship that enabled her to attend Mount St. Scholastica
College in Kansas, United States (Napoli 2010). She earned an undergraduate
degree in Biology before completing a Master’s Degree (Biological Sciences)
in 1966 at the University of Pittsburgh. She returned to Kenya and enrolled in
veterinary anatomy. It was a historic moment when she became the first woman
in East Africa to receive a doctorate. It propelled her to become university faculty
and chair at university department in 1976; the first woman to achieve such a
feat.
She sought to end the destruction of forests and lands in Kenya due to
development. To achieve this, she founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977
Fig. 1.4 Wangari Maathai, Source: The Green Belt Movement (2019)
17
1.5 Individual Matter: Wangari Maathai
Maathai (see Fig. 1.4) was a Kenyan environmental activist and politician who
served as the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources,
and Wildlife. She was awarded a Ph.D. that made her the first woman in Central
and East Africa to receive a doctorate (Napoli 2010). She won the Nobel Peace
Prize because of her “holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces
democracy, human rights, and women’s rights in particular.”
Maathai was born in 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya. Her father was a farmer who fully
supported the family, while Kenya was a British colony. Her family surprisingly
sent her to school, which was uncommon for Kenyan girls at the time. She excelled
in primary school and furthered her schooling at Loreto Girls’ High School. In
1960, she won a scholarship that enabled her to attend Mount St. Scholastica
College in Kansas, United States (Napoli 2010). She earned an undergraduate
degree in Biology before completing a Master’s Degree (Biological Sciences)
in 1966 at the University of Pittsburgh. She returned to Kenya and enrolled in
veterinary anatomy. It was a historic moment when she became the first woman
in East Africa to receive a doctorate. It propelled her to become university faculty
and chair at university department in 1976; the first woman to achieve such a
feat.
She sought to end the destruction of forests and lands in Kenya due to
development. To achieve this, she founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977
Fig. 1.4 Wangari Maathai, Source: The Green Belt Movement (2019)