You may remember a while back I blogged about Kenyan environmental activist Wengari Maathai? She is an incredible woman who founded the Green Belt Movement which has planted 30 million trees across Africa since 1977. She abandoned a promising academic career as a biology professor to pursue her environment projects. The movement grew to include projects to preserve biodiversity, educate people about their environment and promote the rights of women and girls. Mrs Maathai has been arrested several times for campaigning against deforestation in Africa. Once was beaten unconscious by heavy handed police. She even led a demonstration of naked women.

Well she has just won the Nobel Peace Prize!!
64 Year old Maathai learned about the award, which includes $1.3 million, while campaigning to protect forests and distributing food to hungry constituents suffering from drought near her hometown of Nyeri in central Kenya.

The first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize was praised by the awarding committee as “a source of inspiration for everyone in Africa fighting for sustainable development, democracy and peace”.

In her first speech after winning the award, she spoke in her native Kikuyu language to an audience of 200 people, mostly poor women who had gathered to collect government food aid. “Don’t farm in forests … because we will lose our forests,” she said. “We have been given the responsibility of caring for future generations, and the younger ones, so that they may have water.” The crowd clapped politely when she told them she had won another international award, which most of them has never heard of. But they laughed loudly when told the prize brought with it more money than she could count.

Africa’s peace laureates:
2004 – Wangari Maathai, Kenya
2001 – Kofi Annan, Ghana
1993 – Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk, South Africa
1984 – Desmond Tutu, South Africa
1960 – Albert John Lutuli, South Africa