The audio for this story is currently not available.
Motjirongo tjoharive, komiṱurukira vyondundu ya Kenya, koutjiro wa Afrika, okakazona aake ungura movikunino pamwe na ina. Ena rako ra ri 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 wa suverere okukara pendje. Eye aa tanaura ehi notjikatana motjikunino tjavo. Eye aa ṋiṋikizire oundwi ouṱikona mehi epyu.
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.
Eye wa suverere oruveze indwi rwokombunda yomahitiro weyuva. Tji kwa zorere tjinene kutja a ha munu imbwi oumuti, Wangari otjaa tjiwa kutja oruveze rwokuyaruka konganda. Eye aa kaenda mokaira okakwaṋi mokati kovikunino, a kakonda ozonḓonḓu tji ma yaruka konganda.
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 wa ri omuatje wozondunge tjinene nu ngwaa vanga okuhita osikore. Nungwari imba ooina na ihe aave vanga kutja ma kare ponganda, me ve vatere. Eye tja ri nozombura hambombari, omuṱena wa zuvisa imba ovanene ve kutja ve mu yandjere okukahita osikore.
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.
Eye wa suverere okurihonga. Eye ee rihongo ovingi tjinene membo arihe ndi ma rese. Eye wa ungura nawa tjinene mosikore, ngandu ndi tja ṋangwa okukerihonga Omahi Omakutasane wa Amerika. Wangari wa yorokere tjinene! Eye aa vanga okutjiwa ovingi ohunga nouye.
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.
Kosikore yomerihongero wokombanda ya Amerika, Wangari we kerihonga oviṋa ovingi ovipe. Eye we kerihonga omiti nomuano mbu vi hapa. Nu eye aruhe aa zemburuka omuano mbwe kura: e nyanda omahore pamwe novaṱena movizire vyomiti movihwa oviwa vya Kenya.
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.
Otja pu me rihongo, otjaa ende ama munu kutja eye wa suvera ovandu va Kenya. Eye aa vanga kutja ovo ve kare nohange nokukutuka. Otja pu me rihongo, opaa zemburuka ovandu ve konganda moAfrika.
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.
Eye tja mana okurihonga, wa yaruka koKenya. Nungwari indi ehi re tjandje ra runduruka. Ozofarama ozonene za nyandavarere mehi arihe. Ovakazendu kava ri nozonguṋe okuyakisa na zo omuriro wokutereka. Ovandu va syonaparere nu ovanatje va ri nondjara.
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 aa tjiwa kutja ma tjiti vi. Eye wa honga ovakazendu okukuna omiti pozondwi. Ovakazendu va uta okurandisa omiti nu ovimariva ave tumbu na vyo omaṱunḓu wavo. Ovakazendu va ri nohange tjiṋene. Wangari we ve vatera kutja ve kare nomasa nomerizirira.
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.
Oruveze otja pu maru kaenda, omiti imbi omipe vya hapa okurira ovihwa, nu ozonḓonḓu za uta okupupa rukwao. Ombuze ya Wangari ya ingana moAfrika aihe. Ku ndino omiti omingi vya kunwa okuza kozondwi za Wangari.
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 wa ungura oukukutu. Ovandu mouparanga wouye ve mu zemburuka neye wa muna ondjingonekero yapeke na pewa ondjambi indji oNobel Peace Prize, nu eye wa ri omukazendu omutenga moAfrika okupewa ondjambi ndjo.
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 wa ṱa mo2011, posi yokutja otjikando atjihe tji twa munu omuti omuwa tu zemburuka ye.
Wangari died in 2011, but we can think of her every time we see a beautiful tree.
Nicola Rijsdijk
Maya Marshak
Angelika Tjoutuku & Asnath Mundjindjiri
Otjiherero
Level 3
The audio for this story is currently not available.
