September 26. 2011, Geneva, Switzerland

In heartfelt sadness conveyed to networks and friends around the world, NIGH's own Board Member, Cyril Ritchie has created a moving tribute to his friend, the late Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win  the Nobel Peace Prize (2004). “She was truly a universal beacon of light. Now that that light is extinguished, what better legacy could Wangari have than the universal redoubling of the commitment of all of us to the values that she so outstandingly incarnated?”

Noting that he had known Ms. Maathai since 1975 and watched her remarkable concentration to serve humanity. Ritchie said, “nothing deterred Wangari, nothing discouraged her, except perhaps the slow pace of governmental awakening to, and response to, the environmental and sustainability crises confronting the planet.

For Wangari, such incomprehension and inaction was only a reason to redouble her own efforts and her mobilization of civil society and academia worldwide.” Remembering specific instances, Ritchie continued, "she was Civil Society personified... increasingly invited to UN, academic and parliamentarian platforms to convey her messages of good sense, of hope, of determination, of human values and of change. Of course for her irrepressible activism, she was vilified in some patriarchal government circles. While protecting land, forests and people, she suffered beatings at the hands of police or hired assailants.... Her Nobel Prize speech conveyed her pride in African women’s resilience; her emphasis on justice, integrity and trust; the contribution of tree-planting to promoting a culture of peace; the need to preserve both local biodiversity and cultural diversity. She issued, in that speech, a clarion call on leaders ‘to expand democratic space and build fair and just societies that allow the creativity and energies of their citizens to flourish.’ ”