GLPH 271 Flashcards

Question

Environmental challenges in Kenya

Answer 1

Population growth and development = destruction of landscapes, organisms, and native trees. Impacts included: Loss of water sources. Deserted lands. Reduced clean air. Severe effects on daily life. Spiritual connection to nature was also lost.

Answer 2

Wangarĩ Maathai is a Kenyan political activist and fought for environment, human rights, and democracy in Kenya for over 30 years. As a Professor (mid-1970s) Saw deforestation and soil erosion firsthand. Heard women’s complaints: Scarcity of water and firewood. Too much land dedicated to cash crops like coffee and tea. Women changed cooking habits due to firewood scarcity and lack of water. Traditional, nutritious recipes were replaced by highly processed/refined foods: High in carbohydrates. Less healthy. Children suffered from malnutrition and disease.

Answer 3

Wangari recognized the firewood scarcity problem and proposed planting more trees. Challenge: women did not know how to plant trees. She began teaching women tree-planting skills. Founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977. Strategy: Connect environmental issues to women’s daily struggles. Encourage women to collect their own seeds (propagation as in nature). Incentive system: if a woman’s planted tree survived, she earned 4 US cents.

Answer 4

Communities developed tree nurseries. Planting trees became symbolic: Traditionally not women’s role, so planting felt like a breakthrough in gender roles. Benefits of trees: Provided food, resources, and building materials (houses, cow sheds, etc.). The movement spread: more and more communities joined.

Answer 5

Wangari Maathai built a grassroots movement, meaning change started from ordinary women in rural communities rather than from government leaders. These women — often poor and overlooked — became the driving force of environmental restoration. Planting trees was traditionally considered men’s work, but through the Green Belt Movement, women took the lead, breaking gender norms. By learning to collect seeds, grow nurseries, and manage funds, women gained new skills and economic independence. The grassroots approach gave women ownership and control over community projects, showing that local people could lead real change. Through education and collective action, women developed confidence to speak up, organize, and challenge authority peacefully. The movement proved that empowerment begins at the grassroots level — when everyday people, especially women, unite to solve problems that affect their lives.

Answer 6

Women’s voices and opinions were not taken seriously. Officials imposed barriers (licenses, restrictions on meetings). The movement was seen as a threat to political authority.

Answer 7

British colonization and stripping of Indigenous identity and practices.

Answer 8

To make people realize that if we truly love our planet and humanity, we must change our thinking and take action to eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us.

Answer 9

of cases/total at-risk population - meant to demonstrate burden of a disease on a community.

Answer 10

Proportion of the population with a disease at a specific point in time. of cases at a specific time/ total population at that time Rare in global health research because surveys take time; often replaced with period prevalence.

Answer 11

Period prevalence measures the proportion of a population that has a certain disease over a specific time period (e.g., one year). Unlike point prevalence (which is at a single moment in time), period prevalence captures all cases present at any point during that time window. of cases at a period of time/average population during that time period

Answer 12

Measures how quickly new cases of a disease appear in a population over a defined time period.

Answer 13

Cumulative incidence measures the proportion of people who develop a new disease during a defined time period. It differs from prevalence, which measures how many people currently have the disease. of new cases of a disease over a period of time / total population at risk

Answer 14

Unlike cumulative incidence (which only counts how many people developed the disease), incidence density rate (IR) takes into account how long people were at risk. It looks at disease occurrence relative to total person-time at risk. of people who develop the disease / # of persons-years at risk of disease

Answer 15

Relative risk (RR): how many times more likely it is that one group of people will become ill compared to another group a/(a+b) divided by c/(c+d)

Answer 16

Calculating DALY Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) is a measure of overall disease burden. It represents the total years lost due to: Ill-health Disability Early death

Answer 17

1. Ableist perspective DALY assigns a weight to disability, which can undervalue people with disabilities by ranking able-bodied individuals as “healthier” or “more valuable.” 2. Doesn’t fully account for age DALY does not consider the different societal contributions people make at different ages. For example, middle-aged individuals are often assumed to contribute the most to society, so weighting schemes can give this group more importance than younger or older people.

GLPH 271 Flashcards

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