On 8 October 2004, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the Peace Prize was going to Wangari Maathai of Kenya. She was the first African woman to receive it. The committee honoured her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. Maathai had planted over 47 million trees across Kenya through the Green Belt Movement. She had faced tear gas, beatings, and imprisonment for her activism. She had been mocked by Moi's government as uneducated. Now the most prestigious prize in the world had her name on it. Kenya wept with pride.