Woman Planting Trees

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 this 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 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
About planting more trees, an act for which she paid them
A small sum, a giant leap, and soon Wangari organized
The women of the Kenyan nation
Chorus
And 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, they arrested her for crimes
She carried on in spite of them and kept on planting trees
Saplings of pride and possibility
Chorus
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
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
They are part of the movement recovering their land
Bringing back the roots of Kenya from the sand
They are moving to make their homeland green
Women planting trees