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Enn tipti lagrin : Zistwar Wangari Maathai A Tiny Seed: The Story of Wangari Maathai

Written by Nicola Rijsdijk

Illustrated by Maya Marshak

Translated by Shameem Oozeerally & MIE French Students

Language Mauritian Creole

Level Level 3

Narrate full story The audio for this story is currently not available.


Dan enn vilaz ki ti trouv lor flan montagn Kenya dan Lafrik Lest, enn tipti tifi ti pe travay dan bann karo avek so mama. Li ti apel Wangari.

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 ti extra kontan res deor. Dan so zardin legim familial, li ti pe fer trou dan later avek so maset. Li ti pe met bann ti lagrin dan later tied.

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.


So moman prefere pandan lazourne ti zis apre kouse soley. Kan ti pe fer tro nwar pou get bann plant, Wangari ti kone finn ariv ler pou retourn lakaz. Pou retourne, li ti bizin swiv bann tipti sime mins dan bann karo ek travers bann larivier.

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 ti enn zanfan intelizan ek li pa ti pe kapav atann pou al lekol. Me so mama ek so papa ti anvi ki li res lacaz pou ed zot. Kan li finn gagn set-an, so gran frer konvink so paran pou les li al lekol.

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.


Li ti kontan aprann. Wangari ti pe aprann plis ek sak liv li ti pe lir. Li ti pe travay telman bien dan lekol ki li finn invite pou aprann an Amerik. Wangari ti extra exsite. Li ti anvi konn ankor lor lemond.

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.


Dan liniversite Aamerikin, Wangari finn aprann boukou nouvo zafer. Li finn aprann lor bann pie ek manier zot grandi. Ek sa finn fer li rapel kouma li finn grandi : li ti pe zwe avek so bann frer dan lonbraz bann pie dan Kenya so lafore manifik.

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.


Pli li ti pe aprann, pli li ti pe realize ki li ti kontan bann dimoun dan Kenya. Pli li ti pe aprann, pli li ti pe rapel so fwaye Afrikin.

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.


Kan li finn terminn so letid, li finn retoun dan Kenya. Me so pei ti’nn sanze. Bann gran laferm ti kouver later lakanpagn. Bann madam ti nepli ena dibwa pou alim dife pou kwi manze. Bann dimoun ti pov ek bann zanfan ti touzour gagn fin.

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 ti kone ki bizin fer. Li finn montre bann madam kouma plant pie avek bann lagrin. Bann madam finn vann bann pie ek zot finn servi sa larzan-la pou nouri zot lafami. Bann madam-la ti bien kontan. Wangari finn ed zot pou santi zot pwisan ek for.

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.


Avek letan, bann nouvo pie finn transform an lafore, ek bann larivier finn rekoumans koule. Mesaz Wangari finn propaze partou dan Lafrik. Azordi, enn ta pie finn pouse ek lagrin Wangari.

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 finn travay dir. Partou dan lemond, bann dimoun finn trouve ek finn donn li enn pri renome. Pri-la apel pri Nobel de la pe ek li ti premie madam Afrikin ki finn gagn sa.

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 finn mor an 2011 me nou ankor pans li sak fwa nou trouv enn zoli pie.

Wangari died in 2011, but we can think of her every time we see a beautiful tree.


Written by: Nicola Rijsdijk
Illustrated by: Maya Marshak
Translated by: Shameem Oozeerally & MIE French Students
Language: Mauritian Creole
Level: Level 3
Source: A Tiny Seed: The Story of Wangari Maathai from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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