1. Maathai loved to learn. She was born in a small village in Kenya, though it was far from common in the 1940s for girls like her to receive an education, Maathai still went to school. Maathai is the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. Whether in academia or political field, she made an unimaginable status as a black woman. This provides the knowledge foundation for the following struggle. 2. Liberalism. Maathai struggled for women’s rights. She advocates gender equality 3. Maathai loved nature, protecting the environment. After her back home, she found lots of places were dug out of recognition; wild woods were replaced by tea or coffee plantations. Endemic plants and animals also disappeared. Villagers complained less and less food, soil erosion and they need to walk a great distance to get fuel wood. Maathai was sad about this, so she gathers village women to grow seedlings and plant trees. These actions give the villagers healthy food, make children live better, they can grow food by themselves, and they feel great. 4. She was brave. In the 1990s, she was in prison and beaten by Kenya authorities because she against property developers accroach public land. She shows her resolute heart by his conduct, she will never bend for vicious power. 5. She was open-minded. In 1976, Maathai broadcasted the idea of afforestation in Kenya. She was the first person to bring it up. This action protected the environment and brought job opportunities to rural women.