Immaculée Ilibagiza (born 1972) is a Rwandan-American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

author and motivational speaker. Her first book, ''Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust'' (2006), is an autobiographical work detailing how she survived during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

Biography

In ''Left to Tell'', Immaculée Ilibagiza shares of her experience during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She survived hidden for 91 days with seven other women in a small bathroom, no larger than 3 feet (0.91 m) by 4 feet (1.2 m) (an area of 12 square feet). The bathroom was concealed in a room behind a wardrobe in the home of a

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...

pastor. During the genocide, most of Ilibagiza's family (her mother, her father, and her two brothers Damascene and Vianney) was killed by Hutu

Interahamwe The Interahamwe ( or ) is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990, as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (M ...

soldiers. Besides herself, the only other survivor in her family was her brother Aimable, who was studying out of the country in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and did not know of the genocide. Ilibagiza shares how her

faith guided her through her ordeal and describes her eventual forgiveness and compassion toward her family's killers. Ilibagiza's second book, ''Led by Faith: Rising from the ashes of the Rwandan Holocaust'' (2008), picks up where she left off in ''Left to Tell.'' She tells her story of survival immediately following the genocide she had lived through. It describes how her faith in God kept her going as she struggled to find her place in the world again, and it also shows how she sought out and encouraged many of the orphans who were equally lost. She finally finds a safe refuge in the United States where she is able to look back at everything she had been through. It is in this safe place where she has the potential to reflect on why she lived through the experience at all. In 2013, Ilibagiza became a naturalized U.S. citizen. She studied electrical and mechanical engineering at the

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; , , UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Provin ...

In popular media

In 2006, a documentary short about her story, ''The Diary of Immaculée'', was released by Academy Award–nominated documentarians Peter LeDonne and Steve Kalafer. She was featured on one of

Wayne Dyer Wayne Walter Dyer (May 10, 1940 – August 29, 2015) was an American self-help author and a motivational speaker. Dyer earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and Philosophy, a Master’s degree in Psychology and an Ed.D. in Guidance and Counse ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

programs, and also on a December 3, 2006, segment of ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' (which re-aired on July 1, 2007)

Honors

Ilibagiza speaks all over the world and is the recipient of the 2007

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

Reconciliation and Peace Award. In 2012 she was the June 9 speaker for the Robert E. and Bonnie Cone Hooper Plenary Address of the Christian Scholars Conference at

Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee, Green Hills neighborho ...

. She received honorary doctorates from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 2007 and St. John's University in 2008.

Books

*Ilibagiza, Immaculée (with Steve Erwin). ''Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust''. Carlsbad, CA:

Hay House Hay House is a publisher founded in 1984 by author Louise Hay, who is known for her books on New Thought. ''The New York Times'' dubbed Hay "The Queen of the New Age," noting that she became "one of the bestselling authors in ...

, 2006. . *Ilibagiza, Immaculée (with Steve Erwin). ''Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide''. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2008. *Ilibagiza, Immaculée (with Steve Erwin). ''Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa''. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2008. *Ilibagiza, Immaculée. ''The Boy Who Met Jesus: Segatashya Emmanuel of Kibeho'' (November 28, 2012) Carlsbad, CA: Hay House *Ilibagiza, Immaculée (with Steve Erwin). ''The Rosary: The Prayer That Saved My Life''(August 15, 2013) Carlsbad, CA: Hay House

References

External links

Immaculée.com
– Official website
Immaculée Ilibagiza
in

Rwandan Genocide Survivor Recalls Horror

segment was originally broadcast on December 3, 2006, and updated on June 28, 2007. Transcript and video segment (12:57). *''At Issue: Survivor of Rwanda''
Windows MediaQuickTime
. Interview of Immaculee Ilibagiza on
At Issue
'', episode #2011, November 22, 2007, (26:47); produced by PBS station WTVP in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilibagiza, Immaculee 1972 births Living people 21st-century American women writers American motivational speakers American women motivational speakers Survivors of the Rwandan genocide Place of birth missing (living people) Rwandan emigrants to the United States Rwandan Roman Catholics Rwandan women writers Tutsi people Naturalized citizens of the United States 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century Rwandan women 21st-century Rwandan people Tutsi women