the story of the little hummingbird

The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Wangari Maathai, awarded by his contribution to a sustainable development, peace and democracy incarnated in his struggle on behalf of the protection of woods and forests finished his speech reminding us that in Africa die eight million people each year, and that many of these deaths could be prevented. And he reminded at those who were there and who had visited the more impoverished neighbourhoods on the first day that the faces we saw then were the faces of the eight million persons that are about to die. And that they were to die because the Government is unable to give to these people the medicines and hospitals they need, because they have to pay the external debt to the so-called “First World”. He said to us: when you feel overwhelmed by the enormous challenges you have to face like global warming, poverty, external debt… and you ask yourself “but… what can I do?”, remember then the story I heard in Japan about a little hummingbird. And following the African Tradition of oral taletelling, Wangari conclude his speech with this story:

A big fire started in the woods. Great blazes were everywhere and every single animal ran in fear out of the wood. Every single animal was on the run… except for a little hummingbird who, standing in a tall tree, safe from harm, said: “I have to do something with that fire”. Then, the hummingbird flew to the nearest spring and took some drops of water with his tiny beak. He flew back to the fire, drop the water, came back again for more water and then again back to the fire. And he kept doing it, one time and another, with amazing speed. Meanwhile, the bigger animals, from the outside of the woods, looked at the hummingbird and said: “Hummingbird, little hummingbird, stop doing that, you can’t fight this fire, you have no power against this great machine of fire” (That big machine of fire could be the great machine of the big corporations, Wangari said, making everybody laugh). But the little hummingbird didn’t pay any attention to them and kept on flying to and fro, carrying with him bits of water every time. All the animals who watched the hummingbird fly tried to discourage him, reminding him about the huge size of the great fire. The hummingbird, to fight that discouragement, stopped and said to himself: “I’m doing the best I can”. And that’s what every one of us should do, simply the best we can.