How to feel really good

Kisauni, Mombasa in 2003

Let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time, I was a volunteer in Mombasa, Kenya. Every day I squeezed into a matatu (a privately owned mini bus) and made my way into the city for work along with thousands of others. Every day I saw a disabled man pedalling a rickety little home-made cart (made of fruit boxes and pram wheels) across an insanely busy junction with his hands. Taking on the cars and the buses and chaos and the choking fumes of the morning rush hour… in a box. Every day I feared for his life, taking on the traffic in what seemed like a suicidal errand.

Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011

RIP Wangari Maathai

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There are people around the world who commit small acts of heroism every day. There are those who show great courage in pursuing what they know is right in the face of great intimidation. There are those who dedicate their lives to public good, whatever the personal cost to themselves.

Professor Wangari Maathai was all those things, and more, inspiring others to start “doing the best I can”.