Wangari Maathai Inspires Massachusetts songwriter 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