KOCHI: When Kochi-based environmentalist C R Neelakandan met Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Muta Maathai in 2007, his impression about the stout, black lady had turned from curiosity to wonder and then to great respect. Expressing condolence on Maathai’s death, Neelakandan said that her approach towards the problems of Kenya were persistent, unique and brave.“I met her while taking part in the World Social Forum held in Kenya. The moment she stepped onstage, I realised why her people loved and respected her so dearly. She spoke in her native tongue and within minutes, the audience was moved to tears. She spoke of the pain felt by nature, women and her country on the whole. Although I could make out her words only through the translator, I understood the impact she had on her people and her nation. She was brave and passionate in her fight against the atrocities faced by her people. She was a warrior in the true sense of the word,” Neelakandan said.Born in Nyeri, Kenya (Africa) in 1940, Maathai was known for her relentless battle against deforestation and women’s repression. In 1977, she started the Green Belt Movement, an organisation to combat desertification. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. Although her campaign in Africa had won her around a dozen awards, she received world-wide acclaim in 2004 when she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her “holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s rights in particular.”Maathai died on Sunday in Kenya, after a long fight with cancer.
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