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Mir yar: Sheekadii Wangari Mathaay A Tiny Seed: The Story of Wangari Maathai

Written by Nicola Rijsdijk

Illustrated by Maya Marshak

Translated by Anwar Mohamed Dirie

Read by Ibrahim Ahmed

Language Somali

Level Level 3

Narrate full story

Reading speed

Autoplay story


Tuulo ku taal dhinaca hooseyo buurta Kenya ee Bariga Afrika, gabar yar ayaa hooyadeed kala shaqeyn jirtay beeraha. Magaceedu waxa uu ahaa 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 bannaanka ayay aad u jeclaan jirtay. Baangad ayay ku qodqodday carrada beerta qoyskooda. Waxayna dhulka qandacsan ku aastay miro aad u yaryar.

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.


Watigay ugu jeclayd maalinta waxa uu ahaa marka ay cadceeddu dhacdo. Marka ay mugdi saaid u noqoto aragtida dhirta, Wangari waxay ogaataa in ay tahay xilligii ay guriga aadi lahayd. Waxayna qaadaa waddoyin dhuudhuuban oo dhex maro beeraha, ayadoo gudbeyso webi yaal markay baxdo.

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 waxa ay ahayd ilma farriid ah wayna sugi la eyd in ay iskuul aado. Laakiin hooyadeed iyo aabbaheed waxa ay doonayeen in ay joogto oo ay guriga ka caawiso. Markii ay toddoba jirsatay, walaalkeed ka weyn ayaa ku qalqaaliyey waalidkeed in ay u oggolaadaan in ay iskuul aaddo.

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.


Way jeclayd in ay wax barato! Wangari waxay wax ka baratay in badan oo badan buug walbey aqrisay. Iskuulka oo ay aad ugu wanaagsanaatey darteed waxaa lagu casuumay in ay wax ku barato dalka Maraykanka. Wangari waa ay faraxday! Waxa ay doonaysay in ay wax badan ka ogaato dunida.

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 wax badan oo cusub ayay ku baratay jaamacada maraykanka. Waxa ay baratay dhirta iyo sida ay u baxaan. Waxa ayna xusuusatay sidii ay usoo kortay: la ciyaarki walaaladeed hooska geedaha kaymihii qurxoonaa ee Kenya.

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.


Markii ay wax sii barataba, waxa ay sii ogaanaysay in ay dadka Kenya aad u jeceshahay. Waxa ay doonaysay in ay noqdaan kuwo faraxsan oo xor ah. Markii ay wax sii barataba, waxa ay soo xusuusan jirtay gurigeedii 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.


Markii ay wax barashadeedii dhammeysatay, waxa ay ku noqotay Kenya. Laakiin wadankeedii waa is beddelay. Beero baaxad leh ayaa is daba jiidnaa dalki. Haweenku ma heysan xaabo ay wax ku karsadaan. Dadku fakhri ayay ahaayeen, carruurtuna waa ay gaajeysnaayeen.

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 way garanysay waxa ay tahay in la sameeyo. Waxa ay bartay haweenkii sida dhirta miro looga abuuro. Haweenku dhirta ayay sii iibin jireen lacagta ka soo baxdana waxay u isticmaali jiren in ay qoysaskooda ku daryeelaan. Haweenkii waxa ay noqdeen kuwo faraxsan. Wangari ayaa ka caawisay in ay dareemaan awooddooda iyo xoog.

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.


Waxuu waqti gudbo ba, dhirtii cusbeyd waxa ay noqotay kayn, webiyadiina mar kale ayay biyo keeneen. Farriintii Wangari, Afrika ayay ku faaftay. Maanta, malaayiin geedo ah ayaa ka soo baxay mirihii 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 si adag ayay u shaqeysay. Dadka dunida oo dhan ayaa ogaaday, waxaa na la siiyey abaalmarin caan ah. Waxa la yiraahdaa Abaalmarinta Nabada ee Nobel, waxa ayna noqotay haweeneyda ugu horeysay ee kaligeed Afrika laga siiyey abid.

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 waxa ay dhimatay 2011, laakiin waa aannu xusuusannaa mar walba oo aan aragno geed qurux badan.

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: Anwar Mohamed Dirie
Read by: Ibrahim Ahmed
Language: Somali
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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