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. – Wangari Maathai
African women in general need to know that its OK for them to be the way they are – to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence. – Wangari Maathai
It would be good for us Africans to accept ourselves as we are and recapture some of the positive aspects of our culture. – Wangari Maathai
You cannot blame the mismanagement of the economy or the fact that we have not invested adequately in education in order to give our people the knowledge, the skills and the technology that they need in order to be able to use the resources that Africa has to gain wealth. – Wangari Maathai