WOMEN PLANTING TREES © 2009 David Roth Thirty years ago in the country of Kenya They were cutting down trees til very few remained The topsoil disappeared, the land became a desert Life was hard to sustain The women of the villages would go in search of firewood Branches were scarce in an ocean of sand One woman, Wangari, saw this taking place, she said “We must take care of our land...” So she planted a tree and she planted another In hopes she would see a little change begin She also saw before her a giant undertaking So she organized her friends Chorus They were part of the movement recovering their land Bringing back the roots of Kenya from the sand They were moving to make their homeland green Women planting trees With a bag of seeds she showed her neighbors How to plant more trees, an act for which she paid them A small sum, a giant step, and soon Wangari organized The women of the Kenyan nation Chorus They were part of the movement recovering the land Bringing back the roots of Kenya from the sand They were moving to make their homeland green Women planting trees Something else was happening Empowerment and strength And this was threatening to the men who made the rules Wangari and her women friends Were making real changes So the policemen came and broke their tools But they never broke her spirit, even though they tried Accused her of subversion, arrested her for crimes She carried on in spite of them and kept on planting seeds The saplings of pride and possibility Chorus They were part of the movement recovering the land Bringing back the roots of Kenya from the sand They were moving to make their homeland green Women planting trees Thirty years later in the country of Kenya Thirty million new trees under African skies Wangari is the first African woman To win the Nobel Peace Price Chorus She began the movement recovering her land Bringing back the roots of Kenya from the sand She was moving to make her homeland green Women planting trees
Women Planting Trees © 2010 David Roth/Maythelight Music (ASCAP)
used by permission ~ www.davidrothmusic.com