One of the hardest challenges of my writing career was to write a children’s book about Prof Wangari Maathai. How do you tell a child about this larger than life woman without scaring them to bits?

How do you tell them, in words they can understand, about this woman who soared to such great academic heights, to become the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a PhD; the first Kenyan woman to chair a university department and the first woman professor in her country?

How do you tell about this woman who converted her garden into a nursery, an idea that gave birth to the Green Belt Movement, a force that for more than 30 years has mobilised hundreds of thousands of people to plant millions of trees?

How do you tell them about this character who fearlessly took on one of the most feared presidents of the time, and his legion of power barons? How she forced the government to abandon million-dollar plans to build a skyscraper at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park?

She who was part of a year-long women’s protest that forced the president to release political prisoners? She who was, for her efforts, rewarded with severe public beatings?

How do you explain that the same person has received more than a dozen honorary degrees from universities throughout the world, and has been named UN Messenger of Peace and was awarded the ultimate prize, the Nobel Prize for Peace?

How do you explain why planting trees could earn you a Nobel Prize for Peace?

She seemed larger than life, until you met her in person. Her warmth, infectious smile, and firm handshake would make you realise she was an ordinary woman with an extraordinary drive.

In my story, a group of children enter an enchanting world where they meet Mama Miti. In the ensuing discussions about her and the environment, and how to conserve it, I tried to introduce a simple character. It was no mean feat.

Maathai had had her share of life’s hard knocks, but she never gave up. In fact, she once said, “Every person who has ever achieved anything has been knocked down many times. But all of them picked themselves up and kept going, and that is what I have always tried to do.”

One of her many passionate appeals was that Kenyans use ciondos (traditonal woven sisal baskets) instead of plastic bags to not only rid the environment of the menace, but also to create employment for thousands of rural people.

The best way to honour Wangari Maathai, the Mother Of Trees is to support this initiative and to plant trees to celebrate all occassions in our lives as she urged.

Rest in Peace, Mama Miti.

The writer is the author of Wangari Maathai: Mother of Trees’ (Longhorn Publishers, 2007)[email protected]