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In ‘n klein dorpie teen die hange van berg Kenya, het ‘n klein dogtertjie in die landerye saam met haar ma gewerk. Haar naam was Wangari.
In a village on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, a little girl worked in the fields with her mother. Her name was Wangari.
Wangari het dit baie geniet om buite te wees. In hulle familie se groentetuin, het sy die grond losgemaak met haar panga. Toe het sy klein saadjies in die grond geplant.
Wangari loved being outside. In her family’s food garden she broke up the soil with her machete. She pressed tiny seeds into the warm earth.
Sonsondergang was haar gunsteling deel van die dag. Sy het geweet dit was tyd om huis toe te gaan wanneer dit so donker geword het, dat sy nie meer die plante kon sien nie. Sy het die smal paadjies gevolg deur die landerye en deur riviere gegaan.
Her favourite time of day was just after sunset. When it got too dark to see the plants, Wangari knew it was time to go home.
She would follow the narrow paths through the fields, crossing rivers as she went.
Wangari was ‘n slim kind en kon nie wag om skool te gaan nie. Haar ma en pa wou gehad het dat sy tuis moet bly, om hulle by die huis te help. Op sewe-jarige ouderdom het haar ouer boer haar ouers oortuig om haar skool toe te stuur.
Wangari was a clever child and couldn’t wait to go to school. But her mother and father wanted her to stay and help them at home.
When she was seven years old, her big brother persuaded her parents to let her go to school.
Sy het daarvan gehou om te leer! Met elke boek wat Wangari gelees het, het sy al hoe meer geleer. Sy het so goed gedoen op skool dat sy uitgenooi is om in die Verenigde State van Amerika te gaan studeer. Wangari was baie opgewonde! Sy wou graag meer van die wêreld leer.
She liked to learn! Wangari learnt more and more with every book she read. She did so well at school that she was invited to study in the United States of America.
Wangari was excited! She wanted to know more about the world.
Wangari het baie nuwe dinge by die Amerikaanse universiteit geleer. Sy het meer van plante en hoe hulle groei geleer. Dit het haar laat terugdink aan die pragtige woud in Kenya. Sy het daar saam met haar broers onder die koeltebome gespeel.
At the American university Wangari learnt many new things. She studied plants and how they grow. And she remembered how she grew: playing games with her brothers in the shade of the trees in the beautiful Kenyan forests.
Terwyl sy studeer het, het sy al hoe meer besef hoe lief sy die mense van Kenya gehad het. Sy wou hê hulle moes gelukkig en vry wees. Hoe meer sy geleer het, hoe meer het sy teruggedink aan haar tuiste in Afrika.
The more she learnt, the more she realised that she loved the people of Kenya. She wanted them to be happy and free.
The more she learnt, the more she remembered her African home.
Toe sy haar studies voltooi het, is sy terug Kenya toe. Alles in haar land het verander. Daar was groot uitgestrekte plase, reg oor die land. Die vroue het nie meer hout gehad om vuur te maak nie. Die mense was arm en die kinders was honger.
When she had finished her studies, she returned to Kenya. But her country had changed. Huge farms stretched across the land. Women had no wood to make cooking fires. The people were poor and the children were hungry.
Wangari het ‘n plan gehad. Sy het die vroue geleer hoe om met die plant van ‘n saadjie, ‘n boom te laat groei. Die vroue kon die bome verkoop en die geld gebruik om na hulle gesinne om te sien. Die vroue was baie gelukkig. Wangari het hulle gehelp om suksesvol en sterk te wees.
Wangari knew what to do. She taught the women how to plant trees from seeds. The women sold the trees and used the money to look after their families. The women were very happy. Wangari had helped them to feel powerful and strong.
Soos die tyd verby gegaan het, het die nuwe bome grootgeword en tot woude gegroei. Die riviere het weer begin vloei. Wangari se boodskap het reg oor Afrika versprei. Vandag is daar miljoene bome wat gegroei het van Wangari se saadjies.
As time passed, the new trees grew into forests, and the rivers started flowing again. Wangari’s message spread across Africa. Today, millions of trees have grown from Wangari’s seeds.
Wangari het hard gewerk. Regoor die wêreld het mense van haar gehoor en sy het ‘n bekende prys verower. Ons noem hierdie prys die Nobel Prys vir Vrede. Sy was die eerste vrou in Afrika wat hierdie prys ontvang het.
Wangari had worked hard. People all over the world took notice, and gave her a famous prize. It is called the Nobel Peace Prize, and she was the first African woman ever to receive it.
Wangari het in 2011 gesterf, maar elke keer wat ons ‘n boom sien, kan ons aan haar dink.
Wangari died in 2011, but we can think of her every time we see a beautiful tree.
