Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed
One ordinary day, skipping on her way from her ordinary school to her ordinary house, she passed an ordinary vacant lot filled with ordinary bushes growing ordinary berries.
day
school
house
vacant lot
bushes
berries
Wangari lives under an umbrella of green trees in the shadow of Mount Kenya in Africa.
Wangari
umbrella
trees
shadow
Mount Kenya
Africa
June's smooth, chocolate skin and head full of curly, sandy brown hair made her as beautiful as the summer month she was named after.
June
skin
hair
month
Ordinary Mary picked the berries and brought them in a big brown bowl to Mrs. Bishop's porch.
Mary
berries
bowl
porch
She watches the birds in the forest where she and her mother go to gather firewood for cooking.
birds
forest
mother
firewood
She made you as happy as you would be on a perfect summer day on the front porch drinking freshly squeezed lemonade.
day
porch
lemonade
Mr.s Bishop
blueberry muffins
people
berries
plate
She helps harvest the sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and maize from the rich soil.
sweet potatoes
sugarcane
maize
soil
June was a fearless giver from the heart and very wise beyond her age.
June
giver
heart
age
One of those five was her paperboy, Billy Parker.
paperboy
Billy Parker
Wangari shines in school, and when she grows tall, like the trees in the forest, she wins a scholarship to study in America.
Wangari
school
trees
forest
scholarship
America
June repeatedly begged her parents to let her walk to school.
June
parents
school
When Billy saw his name on a note in the driveway on a plate, he quickly parked his bike and ate every crumb.
Billy
note
driveway
plate
bike
crumb
Wangari sees women bent from hauling firewood miles and miles from home.
women
firewood
home
June had always been a very good student.
June
student