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Speaker 1: The Day in History Class. It's a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey y'all, it's Eves and welcome to another

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Speaker 1: episode of This Day in History Class, a show that

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Speaker 1: uncovers a little bit of history every day. Today is

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Speaker 1: April one. The day was April first, nine environmental and

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Speaker 1: political activists when Gary Mattai was born. Mattai was the

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Speaker 1: first African woman to win the Nobel Prize. Mattai was

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Speaker 1: born in neary Kenya and raised in an area that

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Speaker 1: was known as the White Highlands. She was the daughter

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Speaker 1: of Kickou subsistence farmers, and she had five siblings. Her

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Speaker 1: older brother convinced her parents that she should go to

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Speaker 1: school rather than focus on work around the house, so

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Speaker 1: she went to the Ae Primary School, St. Cecilia's Intermediate School,

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Speaker 1: then Laredo Limuru Girls School. After finishing school there and

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Speaker 1: getting a scholarship, she went to the US to study

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Speaker 1: at Mount Saint Scholastica College in Kansas. At the time,

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Speaker 1: the Kennedy administration was funding East Africans to study at

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Speaker 1: American colleges as colonialism in East Africa was ending, and

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Speaker 1: many Kenyans went to study at US universities. Mattai got

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Speaker 1: her bachelor's degree in biology in nineteen sixty four, then

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Speaker 1: her masters from the University of Pittsburgh. By the time

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Speaker 1: she returned to Kenya, the country had gained its independence

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Speaker 1: from the British Empire and become an independent republic. Mattai

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Speaker 1: was recruited to be a research assistant in zoology at

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Speaker 1: the University of Nairobi, but she was denied the position

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Speaker 1: because of what she believed to be gender discrimination. Soon though,

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Speaker 1: the university hired her as a research associate in the

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Speaker 1: Department of Veterinary Anatomy. In ninetee, she got her doctorate

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Speaker 1: from the University of Nairobi. She worked her way up

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Speaker 1: at the institution, becoming a senior lecturer, then chair of

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Speaker 1: the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, then an assistant professor. The

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Speaker 1: research she took on made her more aware of the

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Speaker 1: environmental issues of Kenya, especially those in rural areas. Mattia

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Speaker 1: married a Nairobi businessman in nineteen sixty nine, and the

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Speaker 1: couple eventually had three kids together. They ended up getting

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Speaker 1: a divorce in the nineteen eighties, but his involvement in

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Speaker 1: politics and advocacy for finding jobs for unemployed people led

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Speaker 1: her to link her work and interest to employment opportunities.

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Speaker 1: But Ti started a business called envirol Care, which involved

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Speaker 1: people planting trees as a way to help the environment

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Speaker 1: and create jobs. The business did not last, but it

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Speaker 1: did help lead her to a new tree planting project

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Speaker 1: called Save the Land Harah Bay, which turned into the

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Speaker 1: Green Belt Movement. The Green Belt Movement was focused on

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Speaker 1: tree planting for poverty reduction and environmental conservation. Throughout her life,

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Speaker 1: Mattai remained dedicated to environmental causes. Deforestation was causing soil

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Speaker 1: runoff and water pollution. It was increasing poverty, reducing the

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Speaker 1: amount of vegetation livestock had to eat, and causing children

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Speaker 1: to have to eat more processed foods. Mattai aimed to

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Speaker 1: combat these effects through the Green Belt Movement, which planted

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Speaker 1: millions of trees, gave small payments to people who planted

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Speaker 1: and preserved trees, and provided services like workshops on family

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Speaker 1: planning and nutrition. The organization spread to countries across the

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Speaker 1: African continent and soon extended its influence to other nations

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Speaker 1: around the world. Mattai was also active in politics. In

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Speaker 1: n nine, she protested against the construction of an enormous

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Speaker 1: Office Tower in Roby, leading investors to withdraw their support

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Speaker 1: from the project. She opposed the one party state and

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Speaker 1: the leadership of Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi. Her opposition

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Speaker 1: and outspokenness did earn her the ire of Moe and

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Speaker 1: other government officials who disliked the green belt movements pro

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Speaker 1: democracy positions. Still, Mattai was elected to parliament in Kenya

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Speaker 1: in two thousand and two and was appointed Assistant Minister

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Speaker 1: for Environment, Natural Resources in Wildlife. In two thousand and four,

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Speaker 1: Mattai got the Nobel Peace Prize for her quote contribution

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Speaker 1: to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She died from complications

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Speaker 1: of ovarian cancer in two thousand eleven. I'm eave Jeff

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Speaker 1: Cote and hopefully you know a little more about history

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Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. And if you want to

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Speaker 1: send us a note on social media, you can do

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Speaker 1: so on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at t d I

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Speaker 1: h C podcast. You can also send us an email

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Speaker 1: at this day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks again for

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Speaker 1: listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow. For

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