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| Wangari Maathai This pic was taken from Fb from my sister´s site. |
And she is still a beacon of hope!
The world is full of complications right now, 2014. Beheadings! Actually the face of Harvey shook me today! Kidnapped girls #BringOurGirlsback!, Imprisoned writers...voices shackled and hidden from sight so long, what happened to Swedish Isaak Dawit of Eritrea?
Rape by police. UN soldiers. War in South Sudan, CAR. Did I forget SYRIA up to now? And all that Middle East bombing and blasting recently? And all that, and all this Ukraine and Putin? And so much more!
So much so that Nightbird was dizzy looking left, right and centre continuously for three months. Yes, three. Wangari still inspires me. Read through to below and hear her recorded!
What do you say at home when things are so tough? I will try. You might say something more or just be silent. You go to your room, you think as you read or speak now and again with wiser folk when you can find them. One consults and wonders.
I want to see the world from another point. In Kenya, our wildlife is getting abused largely in the killing of elephants for ivory. Yet we have many lessons to learn from nature.
When I saw a lioness bringing up oryxes several times, I wished, how I wished our political leaders could learn. I saw Wangari in this lion. I saw good leaders or at least those who try to do their little thing as we say. I wrote a poem. It was about Namunyak as the lion that did this was named. It means the lucky one.
NAMUNYAK
OF THE MAASAI
©Philo Ikonya, This Bread of Peace, Lapwing UK, 2010
©Philo Ikonya, This Bread of Peace, Lapwing UK, 2010
They
called her Namunyak.
I
would have called her Sankara,
Makeba,
Wangarĩ
or Ellena.
Me
katilili or Nyanjirũ.
Who
mothers Afrika?
In
Namunyak is all these.
She is
the mother lion,
hidden
in Samburu Park,
in
Kenya, under a bush
and
sun bathing
her
dusty golden coat.
They
call her Namunyak, the lucky one.
She
spreads peace to all, not greed.
Yes,
Bahati, Bakhita, Mũnyaka.
Ma
Lion what is your secret?
You
feed and adopt six baby oryx,
six
even times, quite odd.
You
know the oryx are usually your food,
but
you feed your victuals,
and
not to make sumptious
a
feast later.
You
protect with all your strength.
Maybe
you should claw us!
You
are greater than
greedy
presidents.
With
the focus of a cat,
you
feed and care for those,
outside
your clan and plan,
tribe
and specie,
the
dearth of Somalia,
and
the diamond sides of Congo.
In
Kenya,
three
presidencies you beat,
all of
them fallen, on the sword
of
tribal discrimination,
the
rim of the nation weakening
till
collapse.
You
beat countries giving visas
with
grudges, strings attached and
humiliation,
I say often, of the poor people.
Would
you redeem humanity?
One of
their own,
is
always, the rejected,
prophet,
rubbished,
and
offered gall
for
wine.
With
love you are so powerful,
your
neighbours they kill human Albinos
to
get rich of a sudden on death!
Would
you cut our own chains?
The
misery we tie around our necks?
You
come home to find,
Mzee
Lion has eaten your oryx.
For
one, you mourn and fume,
for
long. You get five more
to no
harm.
Have
you seen how our fear has ‘children’ these days,
Fear
with grandparents and roots?
Have
you seen the fears of children today?
You
sit there six times,
a
puzzle, posing they think.
To
your lesson,
We
are here to give honour.
I
dress you with a mane.
Incredible
mother of beauty.
Karibu
Mama.
Hakuna
matata.
Come
Japanese to see your Nisei,
San
with Nikon,
snap,
snap.
Another
face of Africa.
Eyes
open wide,
People
of all races are back,
do
they turn to make Africa?
Is
pigmentation enough?
Come
American Indians,
Australians.
Come
all to take an image of harmony home.
Come
they with verses spoken long ago.
But
you just sit there Namunyak,
And I
award you for feeding your food,
sensing
life in disaster.
To
peace and freedom.
You
challenge we give to suckle.
Delicadamente
Dedicadamente
Na
upendo wa amani,
Mkate
huu wa amani na wa uhuru.
Feed,
house,
Water,
Keep
it,
Like
in safe villages or,
cities,
in the
jungle,
in
your style.
©Philo Ikonya from second poetry anthology bookThis Bread of Peace, Lapwing, UK, 2010
Remembering Wangari Maathai´s advice always helps Nightbird. Why forget her positive spirit. Kenya can still learn so much from her.
Nightbird likes to remember Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Tomorrow is the third anniversary of her death on 25 Sept 2011. Many know her and of her already so let Nightbird speak with heart. And briefly. Nightbird met her in life.
Kwa Mama Mpendwa, Wangari
To Beloved Mother
When I look back I can say you gave us a dream and for that I thank you. Let those who try to say they did not see what you gave begin to marvel. You made us dream and hope for a better country, Kenya. For a better world. You did. Have you seen how politics has divided people into hating ethnic enclaves in Kenya? Why is there so much insecurity there? Whey are people not equal before the law? Of course humans are and can be insecure anywhere but Kenya your nation could be much, much better.
We fall into serious killer divisions so easily. In politics people often take sides, and that is fine. I do not know if you would at this point in time have taken sides, Kenya needs unity so much. So does much of the world. Look how some are merchandising death in terror!
What I know is that you did not let the temporal matters of choice and voice make you disregard anyone, not a people certainly. You knew these were temporal matters. Not that you often spoke of eternal ones as divorced from a tree but you had enough wisdom to know that we cannot because of a current system dismiss and hate people.
You saw people as central to life even if forests mattered so much to you. You addressed issues a practical way. You were candid.
A system, a political office, power is often misused. A system or support may be bought, but not people. You influenced us to remember that as part of dignity. You gave us a dream as a people.
I can still see this dream in the form of a tree. You gave us a dream in the form of a tree like all mothers do when they birth us, our roots is what concerned you. These days we are lost in tribal hate and the world is no better. Racism is rampant.
Wangari you so often shoed us how branches relate with the trunk and when speaking about leaves that fall you told me never to forget how important each one of them is, as important as the palm of our hands, all the veins there, and nerves! They are many!
So that Mother, it mattered how one looked at a person. That is how one natured a tree. How you hated betrayal! You told Kibaki he could not betray an MOU, that he could not say, you went into your Mother Tongue for that with me, "Thiga (A man) ni arua ( Is already circumcised) gutiri marara nja! (there are no celebrations)"
You used this proverb as is commonly used in the Kikuyu language to mean that fair is fair. That I cannot ask you for help and promise something and then turn around after it is done and say no to our deal.
You were disappointed that the MOU with Raila Odinga was not honored. How sad you would be now. The split caused by this in Kenya has perpetuated itself to this day. You coming from a totally different region did not think that people should be abused due to their customs or origin. You loved them as they were. You were not threatened by diversity. You may have had other weaknesses but NOT this one that is now strangling us!
It is terrible to hear how ethnic groups express their differences by showing dislike for the persons and not the issues involved. That is what the people inherited from others. I do hope that they will remember your dream and remove manifestations of hate for one another because politicians used them temporarily to achieve a selfish goal.
No. I wish that politicians will stop this irresponsible behavior. That they honor your land with your ways. That the people learn , we learn from you. Look how stunted we are getting as a nation. This is not like your dream. No. It was bigger than that! You wanted more! And you said, we only had to do very little without fear of the big animals. Take our little drop of water to put off the fire.
Like this you put it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMW6YWjMxw
