"What do Trees Have to Do With Peace?" The Story of Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Kenyan Activist Wangari Maathai by Denise Roy

Friends,

I'm re-posting this blog from 20 years ago—which is as relevant today as it was back then, if not more. Written by Denise Roy, it's the story of Dr.
Wangari Maathai, the first African female winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

She earned a doctorate in biology, and became the first female scholar from East and Central Africa to achieve this, and subsequently to become Kenya's first female professor. 

Maathai inaugurated the Green Belt Movement in Kenya—as a peace and sustainable, pro-democracy, tree-planting movement—that spread throughout several African countries. She actively opposed Daniel arap Moi's regime and fought for democracy in Kenya, becoming Kenya's Assistant Minister for the Environment. 

She died at the age of 71. I can't help but think that the beatings and violence she endured by vicious governmental forces—for planting trees and empowering women—played a role in her untimely death, even as it strengthened her resolve and commitment to her cause. 

My husband and I bought two pecan trees over the holidays. We'll be planting them soon and thinking about Wangari Maathai as we do so. We hope that wherever you are, you, too, will consider planting a tree since it is a simple yet powerful way to contribute to a healthier planet, support wildlife, and leave a lasting legacy for future generations. 

We need to draw from Wangari's spirit and vision for the healing of our planet and, by extension, ourselves.

-Angela Valenzuela

What do Trees Have to Do With Peace?

by Denise Roy | familyspirit.com | 2004

Thirty years ago, in the country of Kenya,
90% of the forest had been chopped down.
Without trees to hold the topsoil in place,
the land became like a desert.

When the women and girls would go in search
of firewood in order to prepare the meals,
they would have to spend hours and hours
looking for what few branches remained.

A woman named Wangari
watched all of this happening.
She decided that there must be a way
to take better care of the land and
take better care of the women and girls.

So she planted a tree.
And then she planted another.
She wanted to plant thousands of trees,
but she realized that it would take a very
long time if she was the only one doing it.
So she taught the women who were looking
for firewood to plant trees, and they were paid
a small amount for each sapling they grew.

Soon she organized women all over the country
to plant trees, and a movement took hold. It was
called the Green Belt Movement, and with each
passing year, more and more trees covered the land.

But something else was happening
as the women planted those trees.
Something else besides those trees was taking root.
The women began to have confidence in themselves.
They began to see that they could make a difference.
They began to see that they were capable of many
things, and that they were equal to the men.
They began to recognize that they were deserving
of being treated with respect and dignity.

Changes like these were threatening to some.
The president of the country didn't like any of this.
So police were sent to intimidate and beat Wangari
for planting trees, and for planting ideas of equality
and democracy in people's heads, especially in women's.
She was accused of "subversion" and arrested many times.

Once, while Wangari was trying to plant trees, she was
clubbed by guards hired by developers who wanted
the lands cleared. She was hospitalized with head injuries.
But she survived, and it only made her realize that she
was on the right path.

For almost thirty years, she was threatened physically,
and she was often made fun of in the press. But she
didn't flinch. She only had to look in the eyes of her
three children, and in the eyes of the thousands of
women and girls who were blossoming right along
with the trees, and she found the strength to continue.

And that is how it came to be that 30 million trees
have been planted in Africa, one tree at a time.
The landscapes--both the external one of the land
and the internal one of the people--have been transformed.

In 2002, the people of Kenya held a democratic
election, and the president who opposed Wangari and
her Green Belt Movement is no longer in office.
And Wangari is now Kenya's
Assistant Minister for the Environment.

She is 65 years old,
and this year she planted one more tree
in celebration and thanksgiving
for being given a very great honor:

Wangari Maathai has been awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the first
African woman to receive this award.

After she was notified, she gave a speech entitled,
"What Do Trees Have To Do With Peace?"
She pointed out how most wars are fought
over limited natural resources, such as oil, land,
coal or diamonds. She called for an end to
corporate greed, and for leaders to build more
just societies. She added:

"Our recent experience in Kenya gives hope
to all who have been struggling for a better future.
It shows it is possible to bring about positive change,
and still do it peacefully. All it takes is courage and
perseverance, and a belief that positive change is possible.
That is why the slogan for our campaign was 'It is Possible!'"

"On behalf of all African women, I want to express
my profound appreciation for this honour,
which will serve to encourage women in Kenya,
in Africa, and around the world to raise their
voices and not to be deterred."

"When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of
peace and seeds of hope. We also secure the future
for our children. I call on those around the world
to celebrate by planting a tree wherever you are."

As she received the Nobel Peace Prize this week
in Oslo, she invited us all to get involved:

"Today we are faced with a challenge
that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that
humanity stops threatening its life-support system.
We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds
and in the process heal our own."

* * *

Can we accept Wangari's invitation?

(c) 2004 Denise Roy. All rights reserved. www.familyspirit.com).(You can read it on her recent newsletter page at www.familyspirit.com/recent.htm)

A Lesson in Bilingual Education: AISD and Jewish-Arab Education group share experiences

I am continually impressed with the excellent leadership in our community and school district here in Austin, Texas.  Hats off to Education Austin—specifically Montse Garibay and Ken Zarifis for bringing this organization, Hand in Hand, to AISD (shown here in front of Becker Elementary).  The organizations brings together thousands of Jewish and Arab children and youth together in 6 schools and communities throughout Israel. For all citizens of Israel, everyday provides living proof about the power and viability of inclusion and equality. 

It should therefore not be lost on us that bilingual education offers much more than bilingualism and biliteracy—as if that were not sufficient. Demonstrated herein are at least two significant ways that we as communities can promote inclusion, equality, and peace—first and foremost, through bilingual education.  Secondarily, by sharing knowledge, experiences, and approaches in education across borders, both psychological and real.  

As this piece brings into focus, we truly need to adjoin these concepts of bilingual education and peace, bilingual education and peace studies in a much more intentional way.  May all have an awesome Sunday!

Angela Valenzuela

c/s

A Lesson in Bilingual Education: AISD and Jewish-Arab Education group share experiences

By Richard Whittaker, Fri., Oct. 9, 2015

Members of Hand in Hand and Education Austin in front of Becker Elementary

Photo by Richard Whittaker

Sometimes Austin schools seem impossibly divided. Sometimes it takes an external reminder that many people have it far worse. Last week, a delegation of Israeli educators, representing one of the few groups teaching Arabs and Jews in the same classrooms, visited to study how the Austin Independent School District bridges gaps through bilingual education.
The idea for the visit came in July, when representatives of local teachers' union Edu­cation Austin attended the American Federation of Teachers conference in Washington, D.C., where they met staff from the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education. Founded in 1997, the group runs public schools that teach all Israeli kids in a community, be they Arab or Jewish. Schools Network Director Ayelet Roth called their campuses "an alternative way of education, which gives them chance to see that there is a possibility of living together. ... We don't think the kids have the responsibility to solve the mess that the adults caused in the Middle East, but we see education as a tool of change."
The original purpose of the Austin trip was to study bilingual education, but it became a broader fact-finding expedition about American schools, and American teachers. There were some raised eyebrows about how highly structured American classrooms are, especially at lower grades, but Hand in Hand Director of Education Inas Deeb was impressed by the overall institution when it comes to helping educators. She said, "A teacher is not alone, they are supported within the school, and they have rich resources that we lack back home."
Education Austin Vice President Mont­ser­rat Garibay called their five-day visit "an amazing experience to share with them best practices or what dual language is, what pre-K is. When they talk to teachers, it's amazing to see that, even though you're in different countries, you share the values that you want the kids to be bicultural and bilingual, whether it's Spanish and English, or Hebrew and Arabic."
In modern Israel, there are basically two education tracks: one for Jewish children, and one for Arabs. Deeb knows the split well, having spent 10 years as the Israeli Ministry of Education's pedagogical advisor to Palestinian schools in the East Bank. She said, "By the law, they are equal. By everyday life, they are not. [Palestinians] suffer discrimination, racism, and their access to power and resources is limited."
Currently, Hand in Hand runs six schools in five communities, teaching 1,350 students. Each campus is about 50% Arab, 50% Jewish, and that's reflected by the staffing (for example, Deeb is Palestinian, and Roth is Jewish). Importantly, they only open a campus if the community approaches them, in what Roth called "a bottom-up process." Then they will spend a year making sure there is real demand and support, and even then they will still wait for municipal government buy-in. Their biggest achievement may be in Kfar Kara in the Wadi Ara, an Arabic community that has attracted Jewish students. Deeb said, "Usually Jewish people only get into an Arab town for shopping or eating in restaurants."
This isn't just about giving Arab kids a Jewish-level education. Each classroom in kindergarten through sixth grade has two teachers: one Palestinian speaking Arabic, and one Israeli Jew speaking Hebrew. Deeb said, "They prepare together, they work together." But she described it as "essential" that there are two teachers, so students are exposed to both languages and both cultures. "We cannot have one teacher, even if she is bilingual. She cannot represent me as a Palestinian, and I cannot represent the Jewish side."
Hand in Hand is breaking new ground, so much so that staff had to develop a new cross-cultural curriculum. In grades 1-6, students learn about identity and religious heritage, both their own and that of their fellow students. Deeb said, "Christians, Muslims, and Jews get together and learn about a common topic like leadership in the three religions." They have also had to develop their own curriculum of Israeli history, and the more contentious issues, like the 1948 war, are left until junior high. Again, that's why having two teachers is so important. Deeb said, "For one side it means the independence of the Israeli state, for the other it's the nakba, the catastrophe. We get them to see facts, to read, to respect the two sides, and to dialogue."
The initiative is not without controversy. In 2014, the Max Rayne school in Jerusalem was the target of a suspected arson attack. However, much like AISD is increasingly pushing community schooling, Roth sees Hand in Hand both building, and building upon, a sense of community that crosses ethnic lines. She said, "If we have 1,350 students, each of them has two parents, and two grandmothers and two grandfathers, so we have about 5,000 people who are supporters." Roth also noted that she found support in Austin schools for the values on which Hand in Hand is based – rights, equality, tolerance, and caring for the poor and minorities. That's a sentiment echoed by Education Austin President Ken Zarifis. "Struggle is just relative to our experience," he said, "but there's something common that has bound us, because we're educators, we believe that what we're doing is helping our kids to have a better future, to do better than we are, to be better people than we are."