AYICC Fraternity mourns the passing of Prof. Wangari Maathai

''To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world.You are our hope and our future.''Prof Wangari Maathai.

It is with great sadness that we at the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) and the Kenya Youth Climate network (KYCN) have learnt about the passing of our heroine Prof. Wangari Maathai.

Prof Maathai was for us and many other young people a symbol of fortitude, courage, humility and leadership.It is her strength that we often refer to in our environmental pursuits, it is her footsteps that we follow, her wealth of knowledge that we draw from.

We in the youth movement recognize that we enjoy the space we enjoy today because of her, Uhuru Park & Karura forest are a symbol of her steadfastness in Environmental conservation,an example she set for us,one we must abide by. Working with the GBM has been a great pleasure and we were hoping to see her at the Interfaith Rally in Durban during the COP 17 climate talks later this year!

We salute a great heroine who in winning the Nobel Peace Prize set us on a path to dream big, to achieve the highest accolades ever and it is this that we are thankful for.

We join her family, the GBM fraternity, Kenyans and the rest of the world in mourning our heroine and in commiting to always being 'the humming birds'

May her soul rest in eternal peace!

Signed: Sylvia Wachira- Continental Coordinator, AYICC

Unbowed by Ken Liti, AYICC Kenya

I slept and dreamt,
Of the greenest Earth,
I awoke and felt,
The prevailing dearth

I dreamt of trees,
Then woke up to plant them
Stung by political bees,
But soldiered on; devoid of shame

Now that I'm gone,
Of more trees do plant,
Here; the torch that my path shone,
The song of eco-warriors forever chant!

~ In Memory of Prof. Wangari Maathai

Kennedy Liti Mbeva,
UNEP - Bayer Young Environment Envoy 2010
Africa Union Youth Volunteer Corp