Learning Patience and Perseverance By Planting the Seeds of Change

▲ 출처: http://bitly.kr/gTK5Q9D
          "When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and hope." Seeds are what all trees or plants grow from. To grow trees, seeds must be planted, and then we must wait for a long time. Many people avoid planting and waiting for seeds because it is difficult and takes too much time. However, there is one person who has taken simply planting seeds to the next level. She is a Kenyan environmentalist named Wangari Maathai. Since she took the initiative in various fields, it is not enough to call her simply 'environmental activist'. It is very difficult to provide someone with a motive to 'change'. Wangari Maathai overcame difficulties and changed society. How did her life, which paves the way with persistence and hope in everything, affect our society?
 
          The traces of Wangari Maathai are being passed on by those who have inherited the goals and passion she wanted to achieve. She founded the Greenbelt Movement in 1977. Wangari Maathai loved humans as much as she loved nature. The small seed, Greenbelt Movement, which began with her love, developed into social movements in various fields, such as the rise of women's human rights, the settlement of democracy, and the expulsion of corruption. It is easy to walk the path that was originally made. However, it is very difficult to walk along the road by oneself. For those who embrace 'novelty' and 'unfamiliar' things, she has become a pioneer that shows hope exists in the future. This courage of Maathai had a lot of influence on politics, society, economy, and the environment in Africa. Maathai thought education was necessary for Africa to change. Therefore she began to provide education to people. At first, many people laughed at her efforts, saying that it is just a 'tiny' seed. However, the seeds she sowed grew into grass roots and further becoming trees. The Greenbelt Movement still offers groups of 2~30 people in each region to provide education for residents. It has become a scale that can never be ignored. Maathai's actions did not get people's support from the start. However, she did not give up and continued to work towards her goal, persuading many people and eventually producing results.
 
A small beginning eventually becomes something big and comes to us. No one knows the result, but without the beginning people cannot see the result and there will be no 'change'. People admire and praise for her only for her achievements left behind. In fact, the beginning of the feat was even a 'tiny' tree that many people might easily ignore. There's still a long road ahead for us. Even if you are in a difficult situation like the actions of Wangari Maathai, there will certainly be visible changes if you try to do the best possible. Even if the start is minor, such as reducing the use of disposable products or simply using public transportation instead of driving.
 
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