Taking a view far from the dependent Africa typically portrayed by Western media, Maathai lays bare the complex and multi-layered culture of the continent, offering optimistic yet feasible ways to improve the quality of life that literally start from the ground up. Maathai analyzes the major impediments to development at three key levels--international, national, and individual. By stressing personal responsibility, Maathai focuses on what Africans can do for themselves to empower individual change at the community level