Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, saw in the teachings of her Catholic faith first a message to change her heart and then to change her country – and it all began with the planting of a single tree.

Links:
Website for The Green Belt Movement begun by Maathai
PBS profile on Maathai
Audio interview with Maathai
Information about Maathai and her connection to Mount St. Scholastica
Maathai’s Nobel lecture
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai – a documentary film

Sources:
Maathai, Wangari, and Green Belt Movement. The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience. New York: Lantern Books, 2004.
Maathai, Wangari. Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World. New York: Doubleday, 2010.
Maathai, Wangari. Unbowed: A Memoir. New York: Anchor Books, 2007.

Image from Agência Brasil

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#282 – Wangari Maathai – “The Tree Woman”