Celebrating African Environment and Wangari Mathai Day
The Wangari Maathai Institute and the University of Copenhagen co-organized a celebration for Africa Environment and Wangari Maathai Day at St Charles Lwanga Catholic church in Kibugu Embu, where commemorative trees were planted and seedlings were distributed to faithful to grow in their farms. The day was set aside in 2012 by the African Union (AU) when it adopted a decision calling for the joint commemoration of Africa Environment Day and Wangari Maathai Day in recognition of the work and life of the late Professor Wangari Maathai who dedicated her life to promoting environmental conservation and sustainable development in Africa and the first African Woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
The University of Copenhagen students were in the Country as part of a field experiential learning course, which will run from 1st to 12th March 2024. A total of 36 students from 15 nationalities joined the faithful of the Catholic church in the celebration of Wangari Maathai Day. The choice of celebration in a church was strongly encouraged by the fact that the day fell on Sunday and Wangari often referred to the need to use spiritual values to heal the wounds we have inflicted on the earth. In her works on Replenishing the Earth: Spiritual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World, she made an impassioned call to heal the wounds of our planet and ourselves through the tenets of our spiritual values, Maathai draws inspiration from many faiths, a belief that the key lies in traditional spiritual love, celebrating the Jewish mandate tikkun olam (“repair the world”) and renewing the Japanese term mottainai (“don’t waste”). Through rededication to these values, she believes, we might finally bring about healing for ourselves and the earth. Thus as we celebrate the day on a Sunday everybody can draw some inspiration and value from their faith to heal the wounds inflicted on the world and help address the current challenges of climate change across the globe, the same way we strongly dedicate our efforts in growing and safeguarding our spiritual lives. Care for God creations and renew the world. For example, Pope Francis in his writing called Laudato Si encourages us to see how everything is connected, and how we treat the earth is a reflection of how we treat each other.
Wangari Maathai Institute being aware of the need to heal the earth in the digital era undertook social media campaigns from 29th February calling on individuals to do their little citizen action to make a difference. ..what is your action today to remember a hero?
The Wangari Maathai Institute of the University of Nairobi is dedicated to promoting environmental governance, peace, and sustainable development through multi-disciplinary training, research, and community outreach. Learn more about their work at the Wangari Maathai Institute website: https://wmi.uonbi.ac.ke/
