Born on April 1, 1940 Wangari Maathai grew up in Nyeri County, located in the central highlands of Kenya. She had a bucolic childhood spent in the rural Kenyan countryside and was sent to St. Cecilia Intermediary, a mission school, for her primary education.
Higher Education
Wangari’s university education began in 1964 in the United States, where she attended Mount St. Scholastica College, majoring in Biology. She obtained her bachelor of science in biology in 1964 and continued to pursue education. Attending the University of Pittsburgh, she graduated with a masters in biological sciences.
Wangari Maathai went on to become the first women in East Africa to earn a doctorate, gaining a PhD from the University of Nairobi in 1971. After graduation she taught at the University of Nairobi, eventually becoming a chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy.
Nurturing a Movement
The Green Belt Movement began as a project of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK), of which she was a member. Women had been coming to the NCWK complaining of deteriorating environmental conditions in their rural regions.
With streams drying up, and poor harvests, women had to walk further and further afield in search of firewood.