Rigoberta Menchu: Defending Human Rights in Guatemala (Women Changing the World)

Rigoberta Menchú was born into a remote and impoverished corner of Guatemala where her people, the Quiche-Mayan, suffered as second-class citizens and where few children, particularly girls, went to school. Working as a coffee-picker and later as a maid, she educated herself and learned Spanish, the language of her oppressors, in order to lead her people in a fight for their land and their rights. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and the Prince of Asturias Award in 1998.