When I was six, schooling in a local school somewhere in the slopes of mount Kenya, I was finding it hard to explain to my classmates what a Colombus monkey is. You should have seen the curious faces and shocked eyes as I meticulously detailed how the monkeys jumped and swung from one tree to the other. All my life I had grown seeing these beautiful creatures gathering berries and wild fruits on the trees on the banks of nyariginu. The river marking the border of my grandparents' shamba.They were a nuisance sometimes and we would take turns to chase them out of the maize and potato plantations. (Grandma please don't read this part) am guilty of allowing them to feed on our toil, just because I had fallen in love with nature. I don't know if she fell for it, but I always claimed the monkeys had outsmarted>am not that stupid though< me when grandma came fuming (almost steaming through her ears) as she counted the loses.About a month ago, I was finding it hard to explain to my six year old cousin what a colombus monkey is. Ironically, the boy has spent even more time in the shamba than I did. Unluckily for him, the trees have slowly disappeared, thanks to the growing population and demand for charcoal and timber. What pains me the most is that the once beautiful snow capped kirinyaga is now found only in pictures, history and fading memories. The once mesmerizing splendour that inspired me to write my first lines of poetry has been reduced into bare rocks. Grotesque and ugly to the eyes of those who saw her in her years of Glory. The snow has thawed, Nyariginu, the river that made me the swimmer I am today has been unfairly deprived of her clear waters and green beauty.maybe its because no one bothered to sensitize the local folk on the importance of conservation. Maybe its because Wangari Maathai never got this deep ...my question is, can't we be all be wangari Maathais in our own respect?? That's is a woman I hold much respect for,, watching her accept her Nobel prize, I felt proud that someone was out there representing those of us who share the same love for nature. I look at her picture and I would have sworn that she was in her early 50s...I was honestly shocked to learn that she was 71 at the time of her passing.I guess that isa lesson to all of us, serve nature well and she will reward you with beauty _no need to visit the fountain of youth _ or loliondo for our case. This post is a tribute to a heroine, who robbed us the tallest building in Africa, but added a few years to our lives. RIP Wangari Maathai, you have left a great legacy and inspired my kind.PS : I agree with Cathy Nzissi »cancer is a bitch! I was finding it hard to explain to my classmates what a Colombus monkey is. You should have seen the curious faces and shocked eyes as I meticulously detailed how the monkeys jumped and swung from one tree to the other. All my life I had grown seeing these beautiful creatures gathering berries and wild fruits on the trees on the banks of nyariginu. The river marking the border of my grandparents' shamba.They were a nuisance sometimes and we would take turns to chase them out of the maize and potato plantations. (Grandma please don't read this part) am guilty of allowing them to feed on our toil, just because I had fallen in love with nature. I don't know if she fell for it, but I always claimed the monkeys had outsmarted>am not that stupid though< me when grandma came fuming (almost steaming through her ears) as she counted the loses.About a month ago, I was finding it hard to explain to my six year old cousin what a colombus monkey is. Ironically, the boy has spent even more time in the shamba than I did. Unluckily for him, the trees have slowly disappeared, thanks to the growing population and demand for charcoal and timber. What pains me the most is that the once beautiful snow capped kirinyaga is now found only in pictures, history and fading memories. The once mesmerizing splendour that inspired me to write my first lines of poetry has been reduced into bare rocks. Grotesque and ugly to the eyes of those who saw her in her years of Glory. The snow has thawed, Nyariginu, the river that made me the swimmer I am today has been unfairly deprived of her clear waters and green beauty.maybe its because no one bothered to sensitize the local folk on the importance of conservation. Maybe its because Wangari Maathai never got this deep ...my question is, can't we be all be wangari Maathais in our own respect?? That's is a woman I hold much respect for,, watching her accept her Nobel prize, I felt proud that someone was out there representing those of us who share the same love for nature. I look at her picture and I would have sworn that she was in her early 50s...I was honestly shocked to learn that she was 71 at the time of her passing.I guess that isa lesson to all of us, serve nature well and she will reward you with beauty _no need to visit the fountain of youth _ or loliondo for our case. This post is a tribute to a heroine, who robbed us the tallest building in Africa, but added a few years to our lives. RIP Wangari Maathai, you have left a great legacy and inspired my kind.PS : I agree with Cathy Nzissi »cancer is a bitch!