A hummingbird in a forest fire

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to attend a lecture by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai, environmental and women's rights activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement. Her address was primarily directed to the college students in the audience, young people who have a leading to do something meaningful in their lives, but who are skeptical about their ability to make any sort of difference as individuals.

Dr. Maathai told a story she said she had learned as a child in Kenya. I wrote it down as best I could remember (I will admit to paraphrasing when I couldn't remember her exact words) and e-mailed it to a friend as a birthday gift.

---

Once there was a little hummingbird who lived in the midst of an enormous forest. One day during the dry season, a dead branch caught fire, and soon the forest was engulfed in flames. Animals ran, crawled, slithered, or flew in terror, seeking only to escape the conflagration and save their lives.

Alone among all the panicked animals, the hummingbird stopped in midflight and regarded the quickly spreading fire. She took only a second to make up her mind, and then she flew to the sparkling river, where she filled her tiny beak with all the water she could fit. This she carried, despite her own fear, back to the forest and dropped it into the flames. Then, without pausing, she flew back to collect more.

The other animals stared at her incredulously. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" asked the mighty lion. "Your beak is too small! It can't possibly hold enough water!"

But the hummingbird made no reply. Instead, on wings moving faster than the naked eye could see, she gathered another thimbleful of water in her mouth and flew back toward the inferno.

"Give it up!" jeered the tall giraffe. "That little bit of water you're dropping on the fire won't make a bit of difference!"

Still the hummingbird made no reply. Dropping the little bit of water on the fire, she headed back to the river for more.

"It's hopeless," screeched the baboon, bouncing on its haunches in agitation. "The fire is too large! What do you think you're trying to accomplish?"

Finally the hummingbird paused in her flight. Hovering, she regarded the other animals for a moment. Her small body was nearly black now with soot and ashes, but her eyes were bright and her voice clear as she replied.

"My beak may be small," she said. "I may not be able to put out this fire by myself. But I'm doing the best that I can."