Wangari Maathai Video: Introduction to the GBM

Founded by Professor Wangari Maathai in 1977, the Green Belt Moovement (GBM) serves to empower communities to conserve the environment and improve the lives of the people, in particularly, the women. It was set up to help the rural Kenya women when they reported the shrinking of streams which causes their food supply to decrease and needing them to walk further for firewood. What the Green Belt Movement does is to motivate these women to come hand in hand and grow plants in order to hold the soil together, store the rainwater in the ground and provide wood for them to use. Their efforts are then rewarded with some money to help them with their income.

Vision:
A values-driven society of people who consciously work for continued improvement of their livelihoods and a greener, cleaner world.

Mission:
We strive for better environmental management, community empowerment, and livelihood improvement using tree-planting as an entry point.

Values:
1. Love for environment conservation

2. Self and community empowerment

3. Volunteerism

4. Accountability, transparency and honesty