His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales joins GBM and friends in celebration of the life and legacy of Professor Wangari Maathai at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London. 

On the 27^th of March GBM staff and Board members from Kenya, the US and Europe were joined by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to celebrate the life and legacy of GBM founder and Nobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai.

Joined by international friends, family and colleagues of Professor Wangari Maathai, it was a truly memorable occasion. 

(GBM Kenya Executive Director- Pauline Kamau and Board Vice-Chair Wanjira Mathai attended)

The morning started with an African welcome with the welcome song- Ngatho icii ndacituma by the Rivival House Choir.

Welcomed by Richard Deverell, Kew Director and GBMI Europe Chair Maggie Baxter OBE; Wanjira Mathai spoke about Professor Maathai, both as her mother and an international force for good for the environment, peace and democracy.

Pupils for Stoneygate College in Leicester gave a charming enactment of the Hummingbird story, bringing to life Professor Maathai's favourite fable that she loved to tell: "I'm doing the best I can".

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales spoke of his "love and admiration" for Professor Wangari Maathai. Read his full speech here. 

The final speech was given by Dr.Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Laureate and co-founder of the Nobel Women's Initiative. 

After the speeches, HRH The Prince of Wales circulated the Orangery meeting guests including H.E. Ephraim Ngare MBS, the UK High Commissioner to Kenya.

The sun broke through the clouds on a chilly spring day in London and HRH The Prince of Wales led the planting of a ceremonial tree in the grounds of Kew Gardens. 

The days events concluded with the Inaugural Wangari Maathai lecture given by former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson and introduced by Theo Sowa, CEO of The African Womens Development Fund.

On 1st April, Google celebrated what would have been Professor Maathai's 73rd brithday with a Google Doodle. 

It has been 18 months since the Green Belt Movement said goodbye to our beloved founder; however the legacy left by Nobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai is still remembered and celebrated worldwide.

Google is the latest of many to commemorate GBM founder and Nobel laureate. The international internet group paid remembrance to Professor Wangari Maathai by celebrating what would have been her 73rd birthday, on April 1st, with a special Doodle uploaded on its homepages across Sub Sahara Africa in her honour. It is a wonderful picture and a touching tribute, we hope that next year her brithday is remembered worldwide. 

It was created by the Google Doodle team to:

“…commemorate Professor Maathai's endless achievements which continue to be put to practice today. She was the first female doctorate holder from East Africa. She also founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, which has planted 51 million trees and empowered African women by helping them develop new skills and educate themselves. Maathai was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace.”

The Wangari Maathai doodle ran for 24 hours, from midnight on 31 March to midnight on 1 April. Google Doodles, which are customizations of the Google logo were started in 1999 by Google Webmaster Dennis Hwang. He was an intern at the time when he was asked to design a logo for the US' 4th of July celebrations in 2000.

GBM and Postal Corporation Kenya plant 1,200 trees in a tree planting partnership at Ngong road forest on Friday 12^th April, 2013.

Not even the chilly Nairobi weather could deter the staff of Postal Corporation Kenya and The Green Belt Movement (GBM) during a tree planting partnership at Ngong road forest on Friday 12^th April, 2013. The event was led by GBM Executive Director Ms Pauline Kamau, Postmaster General Dr Enock Kinara, Postal Corporation Chairman Cyrus Maina, officials from Kenya Forest Service and staff members from the different organizations. The tree planting exercise aimed to plant over 1,000 trees in a designated area of the forest set aside by Kenya Forest Service. The tree planting was part of a bid to increase Kenya’s forest cover as part of the country’s effort to develop and sustainably manage forest resources for Kenya's social-economic development.

In her keynote address, Pauline Kamau affirmed GBM’s commitment to monitor the newly planted trees for a period of three years before handing over the role to the Kenya Forest Service who manage the forest. True to Professor Wangari Maathai’s words “anybody can dig a hole and plant a tree, but to make sure it survives, you have to nurture it, you have to water it and you have to keep at it until it becomes rooted so it can take care of itself.” She applauded the Postal Corporation of Kenya for this new initiative stating that tree planting ought to be a necessity for everyone.

Photo: GBM Executive Director Pauline Kamau planting one of the 1,200 trees planted at Ngong road forest.

Postal Corporation Chairman, Cyrus Maina, acknowledged GBM for taking environmental conservation to a higher level. He said that his organization was there to affirm and continue with Professor Wangari Maathai’s work towards improving the environment through tree planting. He also urged the government to come up with laws that ensure development in Kenya goes hand in hand with re-forestation as well as to provide training to rural tree growers.

Speaking at the event on behalf of the Kenya Forest Service Director, Zonal Forest Manager Mr Stephen Kahunyo thanked GBM for the continued collaboration in securing Ngong road forest. He urged all those present to plant trees so as to ensure humankind’s survival.

With the help of local community members, the teams present successfully planted 1,200 trees!

GBM launches Bamboo Project Initiative in Maragua Constituency in partnership with the Norwegian organisation Waterstone.

The lush green farms of Maragua constituency in Murang’a County were the backdrop for a bamboo project launched on 23rd April 2013 as a joint effort between Green Belt Movement (GBM) and Waterstone, an organisation whose mission is to contribute to a cleaner environment and promote the innovation of green business opportunities.

A two-day intensive training workshop was conducted at Kitil farm where women representatives from Maragua were trained on how to effectively grow bamboo and its economic value. Over 1,200 bamboo seedlings were planted on a five acre piece of land with all those present taking home two seedlings each.

Over 1,200 Bamboo seedlings were planted in Maragua Consituency. Photo: Green Belt Movement.

In Kenya, more than 80% of the rural population depends on charcoal for everyday cooking. Less than 2% of Kenya’s forest cover remains and, if the remaining forest is to be conserved, new sustainable alternatives for wood and wood products need to be identified. New generation bamboo plantations have the potential to be part of the climate change solution as well as to help secure energy and rural livelihoods through the development of bamboo-based businesses.

The event was led by GBM Board members, GBM Executive Director Pauline Kamau, and Waterstone’s Board Chairman Ole Bernt Frøshaug. Speaking at the project launch, GBM Honorary Treasurer, Mrs Lillian Wanjiru Njehu, urged the community to carry the project forward for the sake of future generations. She asserted that the project belongs to the people of Maragua and emphasised that GBM serves to facilitate and provide guidance. Mrs Njehu also encouraged the women to take good care of the seedlings in order to ensure success of the project and a healthier environment.

The Bamboo initiative works with rural women from Maragua, guiding them in growing Bamboo. Photo:Green Belt Movement

GBM Executive Director, Pauline Kamau, applauded the women and community members for their large turnout and devotion to this project. She advised the community to tend to the farm diligently and not be driven by the economic value of the bamboo but rather by the hope for a healthier environment.

In his keynote address, Waterstone’s Ole Bernt Frøshaug persuaded the local community to take pride in the project, “we have to be proud of what we are starting, we are educating ourselves and this piece of land is our school”. Frøshaug said that it was not by chance that his organisation teamed up with GBM; he had met Professor Wangari Maathai in the past and they both shared the vision of a greener and sustainable environment.

GBM Executive Director Pauline Kamau and Waterstone’s Ole Bernt Frøshaug attended the launch of the Bamboo Initiative and got stuck in with the planting! Photo: Green Belt Movement.

Saturday May 24^th was a special day at Wangari Gardens in Washington DC. Wanjira Mathai, Wangari Maathai’s daughter and Vice Chair of the Green Belt Movement (GBM) Board visited the Gardens for the first time.

Saturday May 24^th was a special day at Wangari Gardens in Washington DC. Wanjira Mathai, Wangari Maathai’s daughter and Vice Chair of the Green Belt Movement (GBM) Board visited the Gardens for the first time. Wanjira met with the residents who started the gardens in 2012. 

Wangari Gardens was Josh Singer's brainchild                                                                          

The Wangari Gardens are a 2.7 acre garden park built in a North West Washington DC neighborhood that has little access to healthy, affordable food. Josh Singer, inspired by the legacy of Professor Wangari Maathai, formed the garden to help combat the high obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and malnutrition affecting many of its residents.

 “It was a very inspiring day to see how a community is building links and friendships one garden at a time"

Wanjira said about her visit to the gardens:

"It was a very inspiring day to see how a community is building links and friendships one garden at a time. They are growing vegetables and herbs and sharing the joy of gardening with their children, many of whom had never done gardening before, let alone grow their own food.

There are 99 plots in the garden all with proud gardeners from the local neighborhood. One of the plot owners, Juanita, has planted onions, spinach and basil on her plot. It is amazing to see how the gardens have changed the community. The simple act of planting vegetables together has changed their relationships with each other and the soil and is a wonderful example of what we can do for communities everywhere. We can all be hummingbirds!”

Wanjira met with the residents who started the gardens in 2012

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) has partnered with USAID to start a beekeeping and apiculture project in Nyeri County in Kenya.  The pilot project kicked off on 16 May 2013 when beehives were given out in three counties Othaya, Tetu and Nyeri.

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) has partnered with USAID to start a beekeeping and apiculture project in Nyeri County in Kenya.  The pilot project kicked off on 16 May 2013 when beehives were given out in three counties Othaya, Tetu and Nyeri.

100 Kenya Top Bar Hives (KTBH) were given to farmers who were part of a previous USAID-funded project concluded in 2012. That project supported farmers to plant an amazing 2.4 million trees on river systems, forests and farms since 2008. The farmers received small funds for community-led tree nurseries based on the number of trees that were planted and survived under their care. The hives were issued as keeping bees was identified as an important way to sustain the project’s tree planting results through income generation.

 GBM's Fridah Wahome (far right) with one of the tree nursery groups

In this region, beekeeping is an environmentally sustainable, economically viable and livelihood improving agricultural activity. Here, the bees will thrive on water catchments, rivers and streams where chemicals and intensive farming has not ousted local biodiversity and farmers have made efforts to conserve these waterways. The bees provide not just honey, but also propolis, pollen and beeswax for improved health and income while improving yields through pollination.

The farmers received small funds for community-led tree nurseries based on the number of trees that were planted and survived under their care

In Kenya, beekeeping contributes an estimated 25,000 Metric tonnes of honey annually; valued at close to 4.3 billion Kenya Shillings (51 million US dollars). It also contributes to Kenya’s National policy objectives spelt out in the Strategic Paper, ‘Vision 2030’ with emphasis on: food security, increased household incomes through value added bee products, employment creation, particularly for the women and youth, increased access to markets and conservation of the environment.

Farmers are placing the beehives along the same riparian reserves and water points on a 967 km stretch of riverbank which they had planted with indigenous trees with 10 hives per km and will be managed by members of the local community.

Speaking during the event when the beehives were given to the community, Njogu Kahare, a Senior Project Officer at GBM, commended the community on their past successes and explained this was the pilot phase of a new project focused on bee keeping. 

100: The number of Kenya Top Bar Hives given to farmers

It was a calm Wednesday morning, the sun’s rays piercing through the fog, a gentle wind whistling through the trees as they swayed side to side, setting the scene for what would be a great day ahead: the World Environment Day 2013. 

It was a calm Wednesday morning, the sun’s rays piercing through the fog, a gentle wind whistling through the trees as they swayed side to side, setting the scene for what would be a great day ahead: the World Environment Day 2013. Driving through the gates of Karura forest, my heart warms up to the splendor and ambience of this picturesque environment, at 1,041 hectares, it is one of the largest urban gazetted forests in the world. The event, spearheaded by Green Belt Movement (GBM) in cooperation with Mount Kenya University, Nairobi Academy and Karura Forest Environmental Education Trust (KFEET) would be held here at one of the GBM’s sites.

The theme for this year’s World Environment Day celebrations is Think.Eat.Save. Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint. If food is wasted, it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of all the food are also lost.

As I made my way to the site, my mind recalled the yester years of 1997 and 1998 when Professor Wangari Maathai and GBM fought for the protection of this forest. The forest was then handed over to the community for management through the Community Forest Association (CFA). Professor Maathai also oversaw the transition of the Shell-BP Sports Club into an environmental education facility, for which GBM is one of the trustees.

At the site, two huge banners on World Environment Day marked the grounds; the air was abuzz and Karura’s tranquility was broken by the joyful cheers of students from the two institutions mingling with GBM staff and members of board. The event kicked off at 10 am with a word of prayer.

In her opening remarks, GBM’s Executive Director, Pauline Kamau commended all those present for devoting their time to this special day. She urged everyone to nature the environment in a bid to attain the 10% recommended forest cover and save our environment from wanton destruction witnessed in the past. Pauline applauded the students from Nairobi Academy and Mount Kenya University for their interest in the environment, echoing the words of Wangari Maathai, "To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our hope and our future."

Wanjira Mathai, the vice-chair of GBM board talked about her passion for Karura, “there’s no place I would rather be right now than here with you at Karura forest”. She encouraged the students to be environmental ambassadors and do the best they can to ensure a cleaner and safer environment for future generations.

Cyrus Kimamo, a GBM board member, talked about GBM’s history and how GBM fought to maintain Karura forest. He spoke of the need to plant indigenous trees that syphon harmful gases from the environment, purifying the air. Kimamo encouraged the youth to do more for the environment, one tree at a time, for without the trees and the forest, we will lack rain which in turn would devastate our environment.

After the brief speeches, the air was charged with team effort as the students were all raring to plant a tree and leave their mark at Karura forest.  A brief demonstration on how to appropriately take the seedlings off the potting bags and laying them in the planting holes was done by GBM staff and this officially kicked off the tree planting session. 10 indigenous trees were planted at the site and GBM assured to take care of the trees for three years to ensure their survival.

As I left Karura, I felt an inspiring experience…like a humming bird, doing the little I can to save the environment.

So think before you eat and help save our environment!

A new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, "Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture", explores the complex and intricate food system.  The exhibit brings what we eat from farm to fork, and includes a sample meal inspired by Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement (GBM), as part of the exhibit's "Eat" section.

By Suzanne Lipton

A new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, "Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture", explores the complex and intricate food system.  The exhibit brings what we eat from farm to fork, and includes a sample meal inspired by Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement (GBM), as part of the exhibit's "Eat" section.

Professor Maathai's meal features "Kenyan Comfort Food", among other meals from around the world including appetizers from Ancient Rome, a meal for a Mongol Emperor, a dessert for Jane Austen, and a vegetarian meal for Mohandas Gandhi. Professor Maathai's meal includes iri: a Kikuyu stew of potatoes, corn, peas, and greens mashed together, topped with chicken stew and accompanied by cup of tea. Irio translates to "food" in Kikuyu. It is a simple yet nutritious meal. Professor Maathai is quoted as saying that irio always reminded her of the earth.

The first part of the exhibit, "Grow", explores the effect of industrialized farming on our environment.  It commends Kenya for its use of diversified, organic maize farming. However, the introduction of industrialized farms and agriculture in Kenya threatens the livelihoods of small local farmers who depend on the land for food production. While it may not be immediately clear, industrialized farming and monoculture directly affect deforestation in Kenya as large tracts of land are razed to make room for farms. Monoculture destroys the soil, depleting it of nutrients, making it unsuitable for harvest and creating an unsustainable food system. Fewer forests means less water in river systems, increasing the impact of droughts and the effects of climate change. As Our Global Kitchen's tagline notes, "everything we eat affects - and is affected by - the world around us."

The exhibit also discusses Professor Maathai's founding of the GBM in 1977. While working with women's groups in Kenya, Professor Maathai noticed that women had to walk long distances to retrieve firewood for cooking. Her simple, yet effective solution was to plant more trees. The home-cooked Kenyan meal featured in the exhibit also reflects GBM's work to improve environmental management, community empowerment, and livelihoods.  Promoting local food production and consumption empowers communities by increasing their self-reliance, another key objective of GBM. In addition, better environmental management translates to better food security. As the exhibit notes, the Green Belt Movement offers advice to rural Kenyans on planting kitchen gardens and growing their own nutrient-rich food.

The "Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture" exhibit runs through August 11, 2013 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Lipton

Poaching is an increasingly rampant problem both in Kenya and across Africa and has seen an exponential increase over the past few years. In Kenya the problem as particularly acute among the elephant and rhino populations who are prized for their ivory tusks and horns. 

This blog was written by Timothy Baxter, intern at Green Belt Movement-Europe

Poaching is an increasingly rampant problem both in Kenya and across Africa and has seen an exponential increase over the past few years. In Kenya, the problem is particularly acute among the elephant and rhino populations who are prized for their ivory tusks and horns. Their decimation represents not only the depletion of a precious and irreplaceable wildlife but a threat to the livelihoods of the tens of thousands of ordinary Kenyans who rely on the tourist industry they generate.

According to Kenyan MP Chachu Ganya, the elephant population declined from 160,000 to 16,000 between the 1960s and 1989 due to poaching.

Though this decline was slowed after the international ban on the ivory trade, elephants are being slaughtered at an alarmingly rate again. In the first five months of 2013 an estimated 117 elephants were lost. Between the 23rd & 29^th May 2013 alone, seven rhinos were killed in Kenya for their horns, bringing the total death toll up to 24 rhinos killed in the first five months of 2013.

If the killings of rhino continue at this rate, total losses for 2013 will equate to around 55-60, almost double the number killed in 2012. Given that Kenya’s remaining rhino population is estimated at around 500-1000 individuals, this constitutes an immediate and mortal threat to the survival of the species in the world. The fact that all of these rhinos were poached on reserves specially created for their protection highlights the extreme difficulties faced in combating the ivory trade. In many respects it is also a self perpetuating problem, the harder it becomes to poach ivory the higher the price and greater the incentive for criminal gangs.

Currently on the black market in China, a kilo of ivory can be worth almost $3000 dollars, tusks can grow to in excess of 60kg (the largest ever recorded was 102.7kg) making the potential return for tusks extraordinarily high. Equally problematic is the periodic attempts by some African governments to overturn or temporarily suspend the world-wide ban on the sale of ivory, attempts which invariably result in a spike in poaching activity.

Many people are asking Green Belt Movement (GBM) how they can get involved and help stop poaching in Africa. Fortunately, there are already a number of different projects promoted by national and international conservation groups and organisations. Amara Conservation primarily work in educating Kenyan’s on the importance of preserving their animal resources and offering alternatives to poaching as well as working in partnership with conservation organisations in Kenya. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a special centre for orphaned elephants outside of Nairobi, focuses on saving and rearing young elephants left orphaned by poachers. The Nairobi based Rhino Ark runs projects including a wildlife reserve protected by electric fencing and scouts and a five man anti-poaching team recruited from local villagers. The Big Life Foundation also runs anti poaching patrols across Kenya and Tanzania. Some bigger organisations like the International Anti-Poaching Foundation, Care For the Wild and the East African Wildlife Society run a variety of different conservation projects in the region, including in Kenya. These are just some of the organisations doing amazing work to combat poaching and enhance conservation.

It is particularly important that a well-resourced and cohesive effort to protect Africa’s endangered species is brought into place because demand for poached animals is likely to rise exponentially. The increase in demand of ivory and animal parts like the rhino’s horn are primarily due to the rising income levels in East Asian countries where these products are in high demand. As these economies continue to develop the size and spending power will also increase. Greater demand will drive up the price and create ever more sophisticated poaching operations. If the international community does not act decisively now we could feasibly see the extinction of these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.

For purposes of monitoring activities in Kirisia forest, GBM undertook capacity building for the GVs so as to equip them with basic Global Positioning System (GPS) and mapping skills (Participatory Geographic Information Systems GIS). 

Kirisia forest is a 92,000 hectares (ha) forest reserve in the Samburu heartland teaming with different plant and animal species. It is not only a home for the wildlife but also provides livelihoods and cultural meaning for the Samburu people who depend on it for wild product harvesting, such as honey, and as a sacred ground for cultural practices. The future of this forest is threatened by increasing poverty and a lack of support for community governance allowing unsustainable practices such as commercial charcoal production.

Past community efforts to restore the forest have been hampered by inadequate resources for forest restoration skills. With no management measures in place, the essential functions of this ecosystem are being destroyed and impacting hugely on the community who depend on it. This is the reason why the Green Belt Movement (GBM) through funding by Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Yves Rocher foundation and The Schooner Foundation has embarked on an ambitious community lead project to rehabilitate the forest, empower the community and help to improve livelihoods for the Samburu people.

The Kirisia forest is one of Kenya’s water towers. GBM has incorporated the Kirisia Forest ecosystem in its adoption of watershed-based approach in conservation of Kenya’s water towers. Twenty-seven (27) green volunteers (GVs) from the community were chosen to help monitor and report the progress of GBM activities across the forest stretch.  Due to the uneven distribution of GVs, attributed to the uneven settlement pattern along the forest boundary, Community Forest Association (CFA) scouts assist in monitoring forest activities in the region.

For purposes of monitoring activities in Kirisia forest, GBM undertook capacity building for the GVs so as to equip them with basic Global Positioning System (GPS) and mapping skills (Participatory Geographic Information Systems GIS). The overall purpose of the exercise was to enable the GVs to map activities in and around the forest. This enables identification of the area each GV will monitor during the project timespan- so they can map out the forest blocks that they will oversee and interpret mapping.

During the exercise, 16 GVs were trained on how to use GPS for mapping, monitoring and reporting of various incidences including: cutting down trees, forest fires, charcoal burning hotspots, bee keeping, wildlife corridors, and agroforestry practices, among others. The GVs were trained on how to interpret maps and how to determine various location-based features on paper maps using a GPS unit.

At the end of the exercise, the GVs mapped out six forest blocks namely: Siraata, Bhola, Karantini, Musenya, Nagwenyi and Suen as the priority project implementation areas. Despite low literacy levels in Samburu County, 13 out of 16 trained GVs were able to undertake the exercise without any further assistance from the GIS team.

Thanks to the project supporters, Green Volunteers and community members in Kirisia Forest are now able to embrace and appreciate the help of the geospatial technology in forest monitoring and protection.

To Mia MacDonald and Wanjira Mathai the demonstrations that began in Istanbul to protest the leveling of Gezi Park to make way for the redevelopment of adjacent Taksim Square rang a familiar bell...

by Mia MacDonald and Wanjira Mathai

Almost a quarter century ago, Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist, Nobel Peace Laureate, and founder of the Green Belt Movement, campaigned to save a similar public park in the city of Nairobi. Like the current struggle in Istanbul, Turkey, Maathai's efforts morphed from an effort to preserve an urban green space to a citizen-led demand for transparency and accountability from those who, in the name of the people, held the wealth of the commons in trust. 

Of course, there are important differences between Turkey now and Kenya then. Turkey is a democracy and the world's media-perhaps with their awareness raised following the global "Occupy" movement-are paying attention in a way that wasn't the case in Kenya, which 25 years ago was a one-party state. Online social networks also now enable protestors like those in Taksim Square to organize and broadcast their demands to the world.

Nonetheless, certain commonalities apply.

In 1989, Maathai learned that the government, under the autocratic leadership of president Daniel arap Moi, intended to excise a portion of Uhuru ("Freedom") Park in downtown Nairobi to build a 62-story skyscraper complex to house the headquarters for KANU, his ruling political party, along with offices, a shopping mall, parking for 2,000 vehicles, and a large statue of Moi himself. The original size of the park had already been reduced by development: a hotel, a road, a members-only golf course, and a football stadium had all been built on parkland during previous years.

Maathai recognized-as the Taksim Square protestors proclaim today-that the park's importance to Nairobi was akin to that of Hyde Park to London or Central Park to New York City and she resolved to try to stop the project.

Unlike in Turkey today, dissent wasn't tolerated; she risked imprisonment and worse if she called people out to protest. So Maathai fought through letters-to government officials, those backing the development (among them the late British tycoon Robert Maxwell), and international agencies and consulates. She also shared these with the media.

Although largely under the thumb of the regime, a handful of editors were seeking greater press freedom, and covered the story. They also printed numerous letters from Kenyans who supported Maathai's campaign. "A green belt in the city creates a meaningful contrast to the concrete jungle," one wrote; another, a child, wrote: "Uhuru Park is where my parents take me over the weekend."

For her efforts, Maathai was publicly denounced by the president, who called her a "wayward woman" and accused the complex's opponents of having "insects in their heads." Parliament interrupted its proceedings to pillory her, and the Green Belt Movement was summarily evicted from its offices in a government-owned building (Maathai's staff of 80 had to move to her modest home).

Emboldened by Maathai's stand, however, opposition continued to grow until in early 1992, under the cover of darkness, the fence in Uhuru Park that demarcated the construction site was quietly removed, and the project abandoned. At a meeting the next morning of women leaders, Maathai declared victory, announcing the complex to be dead: "as dead as a dodo". The slaying of the "park monster" is acknowledged as a milestone in Kenya's journey toward multi-party democracy.

Maathai understood that for young and old, rich and poor, Uhuru Park offered a respite from the sprawling housing estates and commercial buildings that had chewed up former grassland and forest. It continues to be an invaluable haven in the heart of downtown Nairobi.

Maathai also recognized that green space reduces ambient heat in cities, mitigates the effects of pollution and absorbs greenhouse gases. Urban parks act as simple but socially vital safety valves for ordinary men and women to release some of the pressures of daily life in the city-especially for those who've left rural areas for the promise of more and better paid work in the city and find themselves living in treeless informal settlements or featureless tower blocks.

This is why in the late 1990s, Maathai and the Green Belt Movement rallied to prevent the government from selling off parts of Karura Forest in northern Nairobi to political cronies to build luxury housing. The threat wasn't only to the Karura ecosystem, known as Nairobi's lungs, but to the curtailing of Kenyans' liberties. Although this fight was a bloody one, with violent attacks by security forces, Karura Forest is now protected and has become a popular recreation spot.

As public space has become increasingly privatized and commercialized, such green space reminds people that they're citizens and rights-bearers, and not merely consumers and logo-wearers. This truth is also not lost on governments or corporations. They understand that where people are free to gather, soon enough they will gather to be free. They will gather to express their need for what Maathai called "democratic space."

This is why Maathai's vision of the ecology of public space-that green space is democratic space-has never been more necessary. In Taksim Square or anywhere people are attempting to create healthier neighborhoods, or seeking as a planetary community to foster sustainable societies, and to engage the support of their fellow citizens to do so.

Mia MacDonald is the executive director of Brighter Green, a public policy action tank in New York, and the chair of the board, Green Belt Movement International-U.S.

Wanjira Mathai, the daughter of Wangari Maathai, is Vice-Chair of the Green Belt Movement and Project Leader of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace & Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi.

Image courtesy of www.shutterstock.com

This noble idea of ‘birthday tree’ was started in 2007 by Dionisio as a way to encourage the children in society to conserve the environment through tree planting. 

Traditionally, birthdays are ceremoniously marked world over with merry-making and blowing candles as the norm; so when I received an email invitation for a “Birthday Tree” celebration by Dionisio Ndegwa, a Project Officer at the Green Belt Movement (GBM), I was curious to see what this celebration was about.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, 16 July 2013, I joined colleagues from GBM to head out to Laikipia Air Base Primary School, located at Kenya Air Force’s base, about eight kilometres northwest of Nanyuki. With Mt. Kenya majestic in the background, the cool mountain breeze and serene environment set the scene for what would be an inspiring event by GBM in cooperation with Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

From the giggles and smiles on the children’s faces, I knew I shared their feelings of excitement and expectation of what laid ahead. The event kicked off at noon with Dionisio leading the festivities, which was when I realized that the event was a birthday in celebration of our environment. 

The Birthday Tree day’s theme was “Plant trees in the mind”, a rallying call to instill love of trees and tree planting in the minds of our children. All the students at the school would be planting a tree each and that they would nurture for the rest of their time in school. This wonderful annual event has helped instill a sense of responsibility in them, and according to Dionisio, it will ensure that the next generation of environmentalists will emerge.

The idea of the Birthday Tree was started in 2007 by Dionisio as a way to encourage children to conserve the environment through tree planting. The children are educated on the importance of trees and their link to a sustainable future; to mark their birthdays each year, they should plant at least one tree. Professor Wangari Maathai pledged her support of the Birthday Tree stating that there is nothing as powerful as putting an idea into a young mind and that: “It is important to nurture any new ideas and initiatives which can make a difference for Africa”.

It was fantastic to see KDF chose to be part of the event, planting trees alongside the children, setting an example that would leave a deep impression on the children’s minds, and the adults too, and a special birthday memory for years to come.

Captain D. Wangai, Base Representative Laikipia Air Base, thanked GBM for choosing the Air Base for this year’s project site. He pledged KDF’s support in assisting the students in nurturing the trees until they reach full maturity. Captain Wangai urged all those present to spread the message of tree planting in a bid to ensure a sustainable environment for future generations.

Over 200 trees were planted with two special trees being planted: one in memory of our founder Wangari Maathai, and the second to celebrate another very special birthday, that of Nelson Mandela who turned 95 this week. 

If you have been inspired by Dionisio’s Birthday Tree celebration, why not make a donation to help us plant more trees in honour of your birthday or someone special, and help us encourage more children in Kenya to plant Birthday Trees. 

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) through support from ABC Home and Planet Foundation has planted over 500,000 trees in Kenya’s Coastal region with focus on these four areas: Msambweni, Matuga Voi, Wundanyi and Mwatate constituencies.

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) through support from ABC Home and Planet Foundation has planted over 500,000 trees in Kenya’s Coastal region with focus on these four areas: Msambweni, Matuga Voi, Wundanyi and Mwatate constituencies.

GBM has had a longstanding partnership with ABC Carpet & Home through our 'A Billion Trees for a Better World' campaign. Since 2007, the campaign has supported communities to plant trees on public and community land as well as forests that serve as water towers and a home to different animal and plant species.

Kenya’s Coastal region has a warm, tropical climate. Sites such as the Boni Forest, described as the “forgotten jewel of the Kenyan Coast” because of its incredible abundance of biodiversity, are being threatened by construction, agriculture, trade and other factors. Lamu has recently been identified as a new port city with huge concern rising amongst environmentalists due to destruction of Forests, wetlands, swamps, and scared sites owing to new infrastructural development. By increasing the forest cover in the region, the community now benefits from easy access to clean drinking and irrigation water.

In addition to tree planting, GBM educates communities about forests and their rights, about HIV/AIDs, and offers skill-building workshops that teach women and youth how to generate their own income and getting job skills.

Through the years, the project has improved the livelihoods of the community members by providing income-generating activities such as beekeeping and fish farming. The project has promoted household food security by encouraging the communities to adopt small-scale irrigation farming especially for indigenous food crops such as cassava, bananas, sorghum and pigeon peas.

On July 17th 2013, President of ABC Home and Planet Foundation, Paulette Cole, visited GBM’s headquarters in Nairobi to discuss further partnership. Her visit to GBM was featured on our Facebook page. Ms Cole wrote a touching tribute to Kenya in memory of Professor Wangari Maathai.

Wangari Maathai wanted everyone to get involved with environmental activities and to "Be a Hummingbird". In the past few months, young hummingbirds from around the world have taken action and have helped bring Wangari Maathai's work to their owncommunities.

Wangari Maathai wanted everyone to get involved with environmental activities in their own communities and to "Be a Hummingbird". 

Earlier in the year students of Leicester Preparatory school in the UK performed a Hummingbird play for Prince Charles at a special memorial for Wangari Maathai in London. 

Now we have some great news from students in the US. The students of Room 17 of John Lyman School in Middlefield, Connecticut and the students from Brooklyn New School in New York are no exception.  They show there are lots of ways children and adults can be hummingbirds wherever you live.   

Hummingbirds at John Lyman School in Connecticut 

After reading Wangari's Trees of Peace the first grade students of Room 17 became inspired by the Green Belt Movement's work and decided they wanted to contribute as well.  Their letter, written by the students themselves, tells all:

Dear Green Belt Movement,

This money is for you from Room 17 in John Lyman School.  We got inspired because we read the book Wangari's Trees of Peace.  You guys did so much good work, this is how we would like to thank you.  We are happy you are helping trees so much.  When we found out about the movement, we all wanted to help too!  We all brought in money around Christmas.  We raised a lot of money in coins and dollars.  Then we immediately thought about making ornaments.  Everybody loved the ornaments.  We ended up with lots of money just for you.

We are sending you one of each type of ornament, a picture we drew, and a check.

Keep up the inspiring work!

Appreciatively,

The students of Room 17

Jenna, Norah, Kaitlyn, Hannah, Katie, Jacqueline, Travis, Andrew, Colin, Marie, Kieran, Ayden, Ava, Joshua, Sulliva, Carter, Emily, Benjamin, Abby, Mrs. Sibiskie and Miss Hamblet

In addition, these students planted seven maple seedlings and a variety of tree seeds they had collected throughout the year on their school's nature path.  They will care for these seedlings over the next year and will continue to be Hummingbirds with the help of their teachers and school community.  

The students of Room 17, also sent us a beautiful drawing of Wangari Maathai planting trees.  We hope their desire to help the environment will continue for a lifetime!

Hummingbirds at Brooklyn New School in New York

Brooklyn New School Third Graders, in Brooklyn, New York became inspired to host a Craft-A-Thon (pictured) after studying Africa in class.  They researched endangered animals and read about the proactive environmental work of Wangari Maathai, learning about the connection between a healthy earth and humans' needs.

The students proposed to raise money by hosting a Craft-A-Thon, where all students in the school could learn crafts from third graders teaching workshops.  Each class in the school raised as much money so they could make a donation when they visited the third graders' Craft-A-Thon.  The students split their donations between the Green Belt Movement and the Wildlife Conservation Society and now see that the benefits of planting trees not only positively effect humans, but also help protect animals and the environment in which we all live.

We are so proud of Brooklyn New School third graders and all of the children who are being hummingbirds throughout the world for taking the initiative to embody Wangari Maathai's vision and for making a difference.

I believe everyone has a purpose in life, our decisions and trust in God lead us either closer or further away from our destiny.

I believe everyone has a purpose in life, our decisions and trust in God lead us either closer or further away from our destiny.

My story began when I graduated with a Degree in Business Information Technology from Strathmore University in June 2013; I was happy and ready to face the world.

I joined a company that provides catering and camp services in Turkana County in the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya.

I realized that I had an interest in the environment when I joined the Health Safety and Environment department in that company. I felt more alive making sure people use environmental friendly products, from the detergents used to clean laundry, to the materials used in civil work.

I later decided to do a Masters Degree in environment. During my search for a good institution, I came across the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies (WMI), offering a Masters of Science Degree in Environmental Governance. I quickly enrolled and later learned that I would be in the pioneer class, something that really excited me.

I was amazed when I realized a colleague of mine had planted over 500 trees in Turkana, a semi-arid region with rainfall measurements recorded at less than ten inches per annum. The project is doing great and it brings joy to my heart seeing a green canopy in such an arid place. I will constantly take photographs of the project and share them with you.

In conclusion, I have read Professor Wangari Maathai’s memoir and it has really inspired me to see how she stood for what she believed in, for a better tomorrow.

This is why I want to follow in the footsteps of Wangari Maathai. I want to start an environmental NGO where I will conserve the environment by educating people on the importance of the environment, conserving and improving it. I will be grateful if you would train me on ways of conserving the environment.

I will be a great driver of change in this country. You will see my works. I aim on ensuring that 10,000 trees grow in Turkana, and I bring back the green canopy of Kenya. I am ready to get dirty, to be ridiculed and to stand for what I believe in, because I will finish what Wangari Maathai started.

This is my story and it has just begun.

A partnership between Green Cross Sweden and the Green Belt Movement (GBM) in Kenya has completed a year and a half pilot project in the Kamara location of Nakuru County to enhance the state of sanitation and hygiene for school children through improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Improving school sanitation and hygiene through learning 

The water crisis in Kenya is disrupting social and economic activities throughout the country. The crisis is due to not only the wave of droughts that has hit Kenya, but also poor management of water supply, under-investment, unfair allocation of water, rampant deforestation, pollution of water supplies by untreated sewage, and huge population growth.

Over one billion people worldwide do not have access to safe, clean water, leaving roughly one sixth of the world's population at risk of contracting fatal diseases and illnesses. Kenya has an annual renewable fresh water supply of only 647 cubic meters per capita and is classified as a water scarce country. Only 57 percent of the rural population has access to clean drinking water, and the time-intensive pursuits of water collection often prevents women from taking up income generating activities, and prevents girls from attending school.

Our Green Cross Sweden project focuses on providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation. By equipping schools and communities with rainwater harvesting systems, wells and boreholes, plus providing ecological sanitation facilities, this project provides concrete and sustainable solutions to improve the lives of people living in water poverty.

A partnership between Green Cross Sweden and the Green Belt Movement (GBM) in Kenya has completed a year and a half pilot project in the Kamara location of Nakuru County to enhance the state of sanitation and hygiene for school children through improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation. 

The Smart Water for Green Schools (SWGS) has built  two toilet blocks hosting 24 drop pits, four urinals, and three water tanks have been constructed and fitted. 

The project’s success has meant that the County Government has approved the replication of the initiative in Lari Primary School and Taita Mau-Che Primary School. 

This project is an example of how evaluation of a successful pilot programme can lead to expansion of an intervention to reach many more students and their families. At a recent meeting Mr Thomas Gesabwa, the Head Teacher, Kamara Primary School, thanked GBM and Green Cross Sweden for this initiative. The school has 460 pupils at elementary school level. The Kamara Sub Location has four public schools.

In February 2013, GBM evaluated the impact of the intervention on students’ knowledge and parents’ adoption of safe water and hygiene practices in the home.  The results of the evaluation showed that:  

1)    An improvement in students’ knowledge on correct water treatment procedures and knowledge of when to wash their hands.

2)    After the pilot project, an increased number of parents now treat their water at home, 14% as compared to 6% before.

3)    A 35% decrease in school absenteeism.

The school thanks GBM for the opportunity of transforming their children’s schooling through these simple and cost effective measures.

The Sky’s the limit

Improving water and sanitation has benefits in many different spheres including education– improving children’s attendance and community health. GBM’s network enables us to work at community level. Our work on water has always been an integral part of our projects and practical action continues to show how water resources can be managed even in the face of drought and other extreme water conditions.

Students at Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies hosted a two day symposium celebrating Wangari Maathai's legacy and discussed Africa's environmental future.  The event, "Africa's Green Future: Nurturing the Vision of Wangari Maathai" featured a viewing of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai as well as a discussion with filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, an interview with Wanjira Mathai, a panel discussion of African scholars, workshops, and a ceremonial tree planting in honor of Wangari Maathai.

On September 19th and 20th, students at Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies hosted a two day symposium celebrating Wangari Maathai's legacy and discussed Africa's environmental future.  The event, "Africa's Green Future: Nurturing the Vision of Wangari Maathai" featured a viewing of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai as well as a discussion with filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, an interview with Wanjira Mathai, a panel discussion of African scholars, workshops, and a ceremonial tree planting in honor of Wangari Maathai.

The event was particularly poignant considering Professor Maathai was a former Dorothy S. McCluskey Visiting Fellow in Conservation at Yale.

Wanjira Mathai, Professor Maathai's daughter and the Project Leader for the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace & Environmental Studies discussed growing up with Professor Maathai as her mother as well as her mother's influence on her life and career.  In addition, the event explored how Professor Maathai's type of community-based advocacy can help African communities respond to the challenges of the 21st century, including natural resource management, land rights and women's rights, forest conservation and climate change.

Below, please find some pictures of the event.  You may read more about the event here.

From L to R: Wanjira Mathai, a Yale student, Mia MacDonald - GBMIUS Board Chair, Lauren Berger - GBMIUS Office Administrator, Njeri Gakonyo - GBMI Kenya Board Chair, and Elsa Lindkvist

GGBM materials at the event

Wanjira Maathai being interviewed by Yale Professor Maria Ivanova

Yale students plant a tree in honor of Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai's death came as a shock to many people: friends, supporters, and those who admired what she'd done or drew strength from her life story.

This article was published onThe Huffington Post and was written by Mia MacDonald Executive director, Brighter Green and Chair, Green Belt Movement International-U.S and co-authored by Wanjira Mathai, the daughter of Wangari Maathai, project leader at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace & Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi.

On the day before environmentalist and 2004 Nobel peace laureate Wangari Maathai left Kenya for the United States to receive treatment for the cancer that eventually took her life two years ago today, she voted in a referendum to ratify a new Kenyan constitution. For decades, she and the Green Belt Movement (GBM), the grassroots tree planting and women's empowerment organization she founded in 1977, had campaigned for the protection of Kenya's natural resources -- its forests, watersheds, and fertile lands -- that were being destroyed by land-grabbing, crony capitalism, and ignorance.

The 2010 constitution that Wangari helped draft says that every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment for the benefit of current and future generations, and requires the Kenyan government to ensure that natural resources are managed sustainably and the benefits they provide be shared equitably.

Wangari was proud of this aspect of her legacy, but she knew it wasn't enough. In her final months, between chemotherapy sessions, she worked to link the two great passions of her life: her belief in the need to raise environmental consciousness and her commitment to grassroots development. These two would be merged through the creation of the Wangari Maathai Institute (WMI) at the University of Nairobi.

As Wangari envisioned it, WMI would bring to the academy the experiences of GBM's community-based networks so that future policy-makers, political leaders, and community organizers could understand the realities of ordinary people, and develop far-sighted initiatives to assist them. Students and professionals from across Africa and other continents would also learn from the values on which GBM was founded.

Wangari was haunted by a woman farmer she'd seen on the hillside in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where she'd been attending a meeting on protecting the Congo Basin Rainforest Ecosystem. The farmer was cutting furrows at such an angle that any rain that fell would wash away her crops and precious topsoil with it. Wangari, who'd grown up amid such women, wondered not only if any of her fellow elites understood how desperately this farmer needed appropriate agricultural extension services, but if they even saw her from the comfort of their suites or lecture halls.

Yet without working with this farmer -- and the tens of millions like her throughout Africa and beyond -- protecting the soil, creating food security, reducing poverty, or mitigatingclimate change wouldn't be possible.

Wangari's answer to this central conundrum was WMI, which is now nurturing the first cohort of students: the next generation of change agents whose "vision" will be sharpened so they actually see the challenges before them.

When the Kenyan government announced the discovery of two aquifers beneath the arid region of Turkana that could supply water for 70 years, we asked ourselves: What would Wangari say? We're she would have welcomed the news. But she would have wanted to be certain that Kenyans understood where the water that charges these aquifers comes from, that it was distributed equitably, and how it could be managed to last not just for seventy, but for seven hundred years (or more). She would also have exhorted Kenyans and their leaders not to assume that they could now afford to waste water or to destroy the five forested mountain regions that provide ninety percent of the water Kenyans use today.

If she were alive, we have no doubt Wangari would be deeply engaged in the global climate debate, and promoting the realization of climate justice. She'd be working to protect the forests of the Congo Basin -- one of the world's major lungs, as Wangari would say -- and she'd be keeping her eye on that farmer in Yaoundé and those like her to make sure they were seen and heard in the corridors of WMI and the conference rooms where policy is made and budgets set.

Wangari's death came as a shock to many people: friends, supporters, and those who admired what she'd done or drew strength from her life story. Yet we imagine she wouldn't have wanted to be made into an icon, her achievements judged unattainable by others. Instead, she'd want us to believe in ourselves and our individual capacity for leadership. She'd urge us to make every effort we could to improve the world around us, and to expect that we could. And she wouldn't want us to let the "farmer in Yaoundé" out of our sights.

Follow Wanjira Mathai on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MathaiWanjira

On this day, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) Board Members, staff, members of GBM’s tree nursery groups, and the public came together to pay homage to our fallen heroine with some very special guests.

On the morning of the 25th September 2013, Karura Forest was a welcome sight to behold. The forest was alive with birdsong from the nearby Lily lake- they chirped with such abandon it seemed as if they were welcoming the guests to this splendid place: the venue for Professor Wangari Maathai’s second memorial anniversary.

It was in this very place on 8 January 1999 that Wangari Maathai led a group of determined citizens to face off and defeat illegal land–grabbing developers. After being attacked by a group of men hired to see the protesters off, Professor Maathai was bloodied but unbowed and ultimately protection of Karura Forest was secured.

Today, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) Board Members, staff, members of GBM’s tree nursery groups, and the public came together to pay homage to our fallen heroine with some very special guests.

The event kicked off at 10 am with the arrival of the guest of honour, Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta, First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. To welcome her, Ruth Wangari Lindkvist, granddaughter to Wangari Maathai, was waiting with a flower bouquet in her hands. The First Lady, with Ruth Wangari’s help, then planted a ceremonial tree in honor of Professor Maathai.

Addressing the assembled guests, the First Lady remembered Wangari Maathai as a courageous and inspiring woman who endured many hardships to save Karura Forest and other green spaces like Uhuru Park and Jevanjee Gardens in Nairobi. The First Lady urged Kenyans to support initiatives by GBM to conserve the environment by planting more trees for prosperity. “We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own – indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder," she quoted Wangari Maathai.

She noted that GBM’s Peace Tent is as relevant today as when it was started in 2008, to promote peace and conflict resolution during times of tension and difficulty. She encouraged all Kenyans to plant trees as a means of healing the environment.

“Let's face it; we would not exist as we do if there were no trees. What many people don't realise is that the forest also acts as a giant filter that cleans the air we breathe. Trees contribute to the environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.”

Environment, Water and Natural Resources Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Judi Wakhungu commended GBM on having planted more than 50 million trees in the Aberdares, Mount Kenya and Mau water towers.The Cabinet Secretary reaffirmed her commitment to continue working with GBM and the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environment Studies to sustain conservation of forests and the environment to honour the legacy of Wangari Maathai.

In a special tribute, GBM Board member, Prof. Vertistine Mbaya spoke fondly of her friendship with Prof Maathai, dating back to more than 30 years ago. She moved the audience as she recalled the times she shared with Wangari Maathai from the fight for Karura Forest to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 2004.

Judy Kimamo spoke on behalf of the GBM staff to reaffirm our commitment to the work that Prof Maathai started working with community groups to protect the five forested water towers of Kenya.

Finally, in giving the vote of thanks GBM’s Executive Director Pauline Kamau urged all those present to keep Wangari Maathai’s legacy alive by being hummingbirds and doing “the little things they can to make a difference”.

Innovation: a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions

The fulfillment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative. There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves: it is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and fertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratization. 

Innovation: a novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions

The fulfillment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative. There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves: it is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and fertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratization. 

Under the Green Belt Movement Gender Programme, Green Belt Movement supported 259 girls and 45 boys in secondary schools, selected from GBM women groups. This is a token for community groups that show greater adoption of Green Belt Movement Mission, Vision and Values. The Program also supported a secondary school namely Gititu Secondary School in Central Province, Nyeri County to establish a tree nursery kitchen garden to sell fruits and vegetables to the school’s feeding program. The school has also set up a tree nursery.  The head teacher purchases vegetables from the kitchen garden and Green Belt Movement buys seedlings from the tree nursery. The school now makes an average of about $1,000 per year.  The money from the sale of these vegetables and tree seedlings supplements the school’s bursary scheme to support bright and needy girls whose parents cannot afford to pay for school fees. Nine female students benefited from this kitty. This secures their future and presents them opportunity to participate in development and national related issues on girls and children.

Why a day for girls?

The Day of the Girl would definitely spark discussions throughout the world about girls' rights, how girls are impacted by policies, the challenges that girls face. We use the Day of the Girl as another way in which we bring up the issue of girls rights to our peers, in our communities and to our leaders in Africa.

Girls themselves were crucial in the global movement to establish the Day of the Girl, and through their stories, ideas and views we came to believe that a day for girls would:

• Bring global focus to the widespread denial of basic rights to girls, and the ‘invisibility’ of girls in the global development agenda; while there has long been an International Women's Day and an International Day of the Child, neither of these days recognise the unique challenges for girls as the most marginalised and discriminated group.
• Help to make girls and their rights more visible. Girls can bring about social change that benefits not only themselves, but their families, communities and entire societies as well. Ensuring girls feel respected and valued in society is the first step to breaking down discriminatory barriers.
• Help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Gender equality must begin with girls. It is fundamental to reducing poverty and to prevent suffering in developing economies and to create a just world.
• Enable girls to gain an equal position in society; this is not only the right of girls and a moral duty, but essential to breaking poverty.

The transformative potential for girls and societies promised through girls education is yet to be realised and innovation in technology, partnerships, and policies can help to accelerate progress.

The International Day of the Girl Child 2013 will provide a platform to highlight examples such as these – and many more – of ongoing work and achievements, as well as raise awareness of the importance of innovation in advancing girls’ education and promoting learning and empowerment.

“Education, of course, creates many opportunities. In Kenya, for most people of my generation and after, a high school education or a college degree is a guaranteed ticket out of the perceived drudgery of subsistence farming or the cultivation of cash crops for little return."-Wangari Maathai Unbowed, p. 71