I ein landsby ved foten av Mount Kenya i Aust-Afrika arbeidde ei lita jente saman med mor si på åkeren. Wangari heitte ho.
In a village on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, a little girl worked in the fields with her mother. Her name was Wangari.
Wangari var glad i å vera ute. Familien hadde ein kjøkkenhage. Der vende ho grønsakshagen med macheten sin. Ho stakk små frø ned i den varme jorda.
Wangari loved being outside. In her family’s food garden she broke up the soil with her machete. She pressed tiny seeds into the warm earth.
Ho syntest den beste tida på dagen var rett etter solnedgang. Når det vart for mørkt til å sjå plantene, visste ho at det var på tide å gå heim. Ho gjekk langs smale stiar på markene og over bekkar på vegen sin.
Her favourite time of day was just after sunset. When it got too dark to see the plants, Wangari knew it was time to go home.
She would follow the narrow paths through the fields, crossing rivers as she went.
Wangari var ei flink jente og ville gjerne byrja på skulen. Men mora og faren ville at ho skulle vera heime og hjelpa til. Då ho vart sju år, overtalte storebroren mor og far til å la henne få gå på skulen.
Wangari was a clever child and couldn’t wait to go to school. But her mother and father wanted her to stay and help them at home.
When she was seven years old, her big brother persuaded her parents to let her go to school.
Ho likte å læra! Wangari lærde meir og meir for kvar bok ho las. Ho vart så flink på skulen at ho vart invitert til å studera i USA. Wangari vart så glad! Ho ville læra meir om verda.
She liked to learn! Wangari learnt more and more with every book she read. She did so well at school that she was invited to study in the United States of America.
Wangari was excited! She wanted to know more about the world.
Wangari lærde mykje nytt på det amerikanske universitetet. Ho studerte planter og korleis dei veks. Og hugsa korleis ho hadde vakse opp sjølv: i leiker og spel med brørne sine i Kenyas vene skogar.
At the American university Wangari learnt many new things. She studied plants and how they grow. And she remembered how she grew: playing games with her brothers in the shade of the trees in the beautiful Kenyan forests.
Ho skjønte ho var glad i folk frå Kenya jo meir ho lærde. Ho ville dei skulle vera glade og frie. Og jo meir ho lærde, desto meir hugsa ho heimen sin i Afrika.
The more she learnt, the more she realised that she loved the people of Kenya. She wanted them to be happy and free.
The more she learnt, the more she remembered her African home.
Då ho var ferdig med å studera, drog ho tilbake til Kenya. Men landet hennar var forandra. Kjempestore bondegardar strekte seg utover i landet. Kvinnene hadde ikkje ved til å tenna bål for å laga mat. Folk var fattige og born svalt.
When she had finished her studies, she returned to Kenya. But her country had changed. Huge farms stretched across the land. Women had no wood to make cooking fires. The people were poor and the children were hungry.
Wangari visste råd. Ho lærde kvinnene å planta tre ved å så frø i jorda. Kvinnene selde trea og brukte pengane til det beste for familien sin. Dei vart veldig glade. Wangari hadde fått dei til å føla seg sterke og mektige.
Wangari knew what to do. She taught the women how to plant trees from seeds. The women sold the trees and used the money to look after their families. The women were very happy. Wangari had helped them to feel powerful and strong.
Tida gjekk, og dei nye trea voks og vart til skog, og det kom vatn i elvene igjen. Historia om Wangari spreidde seg over heile Afrika. I dag er det millionar av tre som har vakse opp frå Wangaris frø.
As time passed, the new trees grew into forests, and the rivers started flowing again. Wangari’s message spread across Africa. Today, millions of trees have grown from Wangari’s seeds.
Wangari hadde arbeidd hardt. Folk over heile verda la merke til det, og dei gav henne ein berømt pris. Han vert kalla Nobels fredspris. Ho vart den første afrikanske kvinna som fekk han.
Wangari had worked hard. People all over the world took notice, and gave her a famous prize. It is called the Nobel Peace Prize, and she was the first African woman ever to receive it.
Wangari døydde i 2011, men vi kan tenkja på henne kvar gong vi ser eit vent tre.
Wangari died in 2011, but we can think of her every time we see a beautiful tree.
Nicola Rijsdijk
Maya Marshak
Espen Stranger-Johannessen, Martine Rørstad Sand
Kristofer Olai Ravn Stavseng
Norwegian (Nynorsk)
Level 3
