The NY Times published yesterday the story of a visionary….. Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist  who began a movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and who went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died in Nairobi, Kenya,  on Sunday. She was 71.

I was privileged to attend the Chicago Shaklee convention mentioned in the above video and was so inspired by her wonderful outlook on life, her sacrifices and her dedication to the environment as well as to women.  She was amazing and left us all wanting to do just a little of what she had already accomplished ~ making a difference.

“Wangari Maathai was a force of nature,” said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations’ environmental program. He likened her to Africa’s ubiquitous acacia trees, “strong in character and able to survive sometimes the harshest of conditions.”

She will truly be missed; however, she has left such a legacy that her vision will go on, empowering women and helping our planet, one person at a time, one tree at a time.  Thank you Wangari for all that you have done and left for us to continue with what you started.

While celebrating my grandson Connor’s  birthday,  my thoughts drifted back to a warm summer day long ago.  My daughter Kate was visiting with her two boys, Calum 4 and Connor 1. We were relaxing with a cup of coffee and good conversation with the boys playing in the nearby room.

Suddenly Connor came into the room crying, his chubby little legs barely keeping up with his body as he literally burst through the door. We immediately noticed a strange powdery substance, almost like sugar, around his mouth. To our horror we saw little bubbles begin to emerge as he fought to spit out the powdery-looking stuff.

While Kate tried to comfort him I grabbed the phone and called the Poison Control Hotline. I knew he must have wandered into my kitchen where I had left an open dishwasher. As the operator tried to calm me down, I gave her the scenario, describing Connor’s  behavior and symptoms. She immediately asked me, “What product has the baby ingested? I replied, “Why, my non-toxic Shaklee Dishwashing Powder“, describing the brand and ingredients to her as fast as I could. I could hear the relief in her voice as she replied, “The baby will be just fine ….just a few bubbles….. just wash him up, comfort him and thank God that you did not have a toxic powder in the dishwasher dispenser!”

Following that event I began to do some research on what could have happened that day had I used another product. First of all I was shocked to learn that every year five to ten million household poisonings are reported, the immediate result of accidental ingestion of common cleaning, pesticide, personal care and other household products. Many of these poisonings are fatal, and most of the victims are children. I learned that the immediate effects of chemical exposure such as what Connor might have ingested in that split second could have resulted in a red and blistered face along with the inside of his mouth and tongue turning white. Those children who actually swallowed the powder often requires several operations to reopen the scarred esophagus Some children literally have to eat through tubes for months while going through operation after operation.

I took a trip to the grocery store and found that every dishwashing product on the shelf had chlorine as its first ingredient. The chlorine in conventional detergents is easily vaporized by hot dishwasher water and then released into our home’s  air. I had not used anything but my non-toxic Shaklee products for the last 15 years and literally forgot what lethal chemicals are in these toxic products.

I feel so blessed that someone shared environmentally-safe, non-toxic products with me and made a difference in my life and certainly that of my grandson Connor’s  life that day!  I think of every day as Earth Day and the daily choices we make can make an enormous difference.

Matt is a wonderful young man whose life literally changed when his grandmother shared the Shaklee CINCH program with him.  I wanted to share this testimony with everyone as it really shows how making a commitment to healthy living can make such a difference.  He is now happily married and both he and Emily are growing a successful Shaklee business sharing CINCH with everyone they meet.