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THEY MADE A DIFFERENCE – SO CAN YOU! While the future may seem troubled, there are many people just like you around the world who have chosen to stand up and make a difference. They have been inspired to fight for a better world, and thanks to them, our future looks brighter. We hope their stories will inspire you to continue to fight for what you believe in. Shelby Knox | Ty Dawson | Bonnie Tillery | Wangari Maathai Shelby Knox served on the Lubbock Youth Commission while she was in high school and fought for comprehensive sex education in her school. She recently testified before the Texas State Board of Education in an effort to convince them to adopt more comprehensive texts to be used in health classes. She is currently a junior at the University of Texas. She writes for a collegiate feminist magazine called The F-Word and is a contributor to Sex, ETC, an online publication of Rutgers University. Shelby is active in both the University Democrats and Voices for Choice chapters on her campus. She is currently traveling around the nation to raise awareness about the lack of comprehensive sex education in schools, using the documentary based on her battle, The Education of Shelby Knox, as a vehicle for discussion. Ty Dawson coordinates the Campus Climate Challenge for the world's second largest university, Ohio University. As the Sierra Student Coalition's Ohio Coordinator, Ty works with students at colleges and universities across Ohio to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Seeing the damaging effects of mountain top removal first-hand inspired Ty to take action, and work to change Ohio's energy policies. He has encouraged many students to join the Sierra Student Coalition and become part of the renewable energy revolution. "We've talked about the problem for way too long," Ty says. "We need to talk about solutions." He is currently a junior at Ohio University. Not that many years ago, Bonnie Tillery would never have dreamed of getting up and speaking in front of people, let alone doing it while wearing a toy stuffed lemur on her head. But now, as Population Issues Coordinator for the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club, she regularly gives presentations about how population growth, coupled with unsustainable resource consumption is endangering the environment we all rely on to sustain us. Bonnie travels throughout New Jersey, highlighting the connections among reproductive health and rights, conservation of natural resources, and the importance of grassroots activism. She is inspired by the youth activists she has met along the way and is confident that the growing movement of student leaders will be able to tackle some of the greatest environmental challenges our world faces. IT CAN BEGIN WITH THE PLANTING OF A TREE In 2004 Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work as the founder of The Greenbelt Movement, an organization of women which works to counteract the environmental devastation of Africa by planting trees. Wangari Maathai was inspired to take action when she saw how damage to the environment made it difficult for many women to find clean water and food for their families. Now the Greenbelt Movement has planted over 40 million trees and provided over 50,000 women with jobs, as well as the empowering knowledge that anyone can become a steward of the environment. Excerpts from Wangari Maathai's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech: When I was growing up in Nyeri in central Kenya, there was no word for desert in my mother tongue, Kikuyu. Our land was fertile and forested. But today in Nyeri, as in much of Africa and the developing world, water sources have dried up, the soil is parched and unsuitable for growing food, and conflicts over land are common. So it should come as no surprise that I was inspired to plant trees to help meet the basic needs of rural women. As a member of the National Council of Women of Kenya in the early 1970's, I listened as women related what they wanted but did not have enough of: energy, clean drinking water and nutritious food. My response was to begin planting trees with them, to help heal the land and break the cycle of poverty. Trees stop soil erosion, leading to water conservation and increased rainfall. Trees provide fuel, material for building and fencing, fruits, fodder, shade and beauty. As household managers in rural and urban areas of the developing world, women are the first to encounter the effects of ecological stress. It forces them to walk farther to get wood for cooking and heating, to search for clean water and to find new sources of food as old ones disappear. My idea evolved into the Green Belt Movement, made up of thousands of groups, primarily of women, who have planted 30 million trees across Kenya. The women are paid a small amount for each seedling they grow, giving them an income as well as improving their environment. The movement has spread to countries in East and Central Africa. Through this work, I came to see that environmental degradation by poor communities was both a source of their problems and a symptom. Growing crops on steep mountain slopes leads to loss of topsoil and land deterioration. Similarly, deforestation causes rivers to dry up and rainfall patterns to shift, which, in turn, result in much lower crop yields and less land for grazing. Land issues in Kenya are complex and easily exploited by politicians. Communities needed to understand and be sensitized about the history of land ownership and distribution in Kenya and Africa. We held seminars on human rights, governing and reducing conflict. In time, the Green Belt Movement became a leading advocate of reintroducing multiparty democracy and free and fair elections in Kenya. Through public education, political advocacy and protests, we also sought to protect open spaces and forests from unscrupulous developers, who were often working hand in hand with politicians, through public education, political advocacy and protests. Mr. Moi's government strongly opposed advocates for democracy and environmental rights; harassment, beatings, death threats and jail time followed, for me and for many others. Fortunately, in 2002, Kenyans realized their dream and elected a democratic government. What we've learned in Kenya - the symbiotic relationship between the sustainable management of natural resources and democratic governance - is also relevant globally. Indeed, many local and international wars, like those in West and Central Africa and the Middle East, continue to be fought over resources. In the process, human rights, democracy and democratic space are denied. I believe the Nobel Committee recognized the links between the environment, democracy and peace and sought to bring them to worldwide attention with the Peace Prize that I am accepting today. The committee, I believe, is seeking to encourage community efforts to restore the earth at a time when we face the ecological crises of deforestation, desertification, water scarcity and a lack of biological diversity. Unless we properly manage resources like forests, water, land, minerals and oil, we will not win the fight against poverty. And there will not be peace. Old conflicts will rage on and new resource wars will erupt unless we change the path we are on. To celebrate this award, and the work it recognizes of those around the world, let me recall the words of Gandhi: My life is my message. Also, plant a tree. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club