Wangari Maathai was born in Kenya in 1940—when girls were not supposed to be educated.
Fortunately, her father decided to send her to boarding school when she was 11. Four years later, she started high school. It was a big deal for a girl in Kenya, and the local shoemaker made Wangari her first pair of shoes. Eventually, she studied in the United States, returned to Africa and earned a Ph.D.
Dr. Maathai served in the Kenyan National Assembly and started the Green Belt Movement, which has planted more than 50 million trees. In 2004, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Imagine what a difference it made to educate this African girl. Think about all of the girls throughout the world, all the girls who are not being educated. What a difference it would make if all of these girls were educated.
I read about Wangari Maathai in her autobiography Unbowed.
–Joy