Nobel Museum-Oslo Norway

While in Norway we got the chance to tour the Nobel Peace Prize Center. Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Prizes, the Peace prize is just one of five, however, it is the only prize that is decided by and given in Norway. The rest of the Nobel Prizes are awarded by and in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented and awarded every year on the 10th of December by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. My favorite part of the center was the “Garden of Laureates.” It consisted of aisles of frames containing the pictures and biographies of all Nobel Peace Prize recipients. It is here that you can find the likes and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Kofi Annan, and many more, but it was the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner that grasped me the most. Wangari Maathai became the 2004 Peace Prize Laureate for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace. Maathai is the founder of Kenya’s “Green Belt Movement,” it is an organization that promotes the planting of trees and other environmental concerning activities. She came in to much conflict with the Kenyan government, and after an unsuccessful run for the presidency in 1997; she finally was elected a spot in parliament in 2002 with 98% of the vote. As a model for both peace and the environment, Maathai not only exemplified what we had hoped to find on our trip, but for me, someone who is passionate about sustainable development, she has begun to pave a path that puts environmental issues at the peak of global awareness. –Kory Bonnell