Every person who has ever achieved anything has been knocked down many times. But all of them picked themselves up and kept going, and that is what I have always tried to do.
Wangari MaathaiRead
In Kenya women are the first victims of environmental degradation, because they are the ones who walk for hours looking for water, who fetch firewood, who provide food for their families.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the disproportionate impact of environmental degradation on women in Kenya, as they are primarily responsible for water, food, and fuel collection.
Wangari Maathai’s quote emphasizes the struggles faced by women in Kenya due to environmental degradation. As primary caregivers and providers, women are heavily affected by the scarcity of resources like water and firewood, which forces them to walk long distances to meet their families' basic needs. This situation not only illustrates the gendered dimensions of environmental issues but also underscores the need for sustainable practices that consider the impact on women who bear the brunt of ecological challenges.
Themes
EnvironmentWomenDegradationWaterFirewoodFoodFamily
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about sustainable development, I might quote this to emphasize the importance of supporting women in environmental conservation efforts.
More from Wangari Maathai
All quotes →It was easy to persecute me without people feeling ashamed. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman' and as a highly educated elitist who was trying to show innocent African women ways of doing things that were not acceptable to African men.
Wangari MaathaiRead
I know there is pain when sawmills close and people lose jobs, but we have to make a choice. We need water and we need these forests.
Wangari MaathaiRead
We’re constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. [But] we should always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I don’t want to be like the other animals watching the planet go down the drain. I’ll be a hummingbird, I’ll do the best I can.
Wangari MaathaiRead
As long as there is no trust and confidence that there will be justice and fairness in resource distribution, political positioning will remain more important than service
Wangari MaathaiRead
It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement's work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively without participants embracing a set of core spiritual values.
Wangari MaathaiRead
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