In October of 1992, when she was thirty-three years old, Rigoberta noticed a change in the world around her, especially the media, when people would follow her around and take pictures. Later that month, she learned that she would win the Nobel Peace Prize for "her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on the respect for the rights of indigenous peoples." She was also awarded 1.2 million dollars, and with that money set up a foundation to further her efforts of the Indians living in Guatemala.
Nobel Peace Prize
"I slept peacefully for a couple of hours, and was awoken by the telephone. My compañeros had been up all night, drinking coffee. The journalists, shivering with cold, were waiting outside in their cars. I got up and went to answer. It was the Norwegian ambassador in Mexico.
"'In nine minutes,' he said, 'it will be announced that you have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Let me be the first to congratulate you. You have nine minutes to prepare yourself, after that the news will be out.' " - Crossing Borders
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