Left to Tell is Immaculée Ilibagiza's memoir of surviving the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, hidden in a pastor's bathroom for three months, and of learning to forgive. For readers of survival stories and faith.
Author · 1 summary
Immaculée Ilibagiza
Rwandan-American writer and motivational speaker
- Birthplace
- Mataba, Rwanda
- Nationality
- Rwandan-American
- Occupation
- Writer, Motivational speaker
- Known for
- Left to Tell, her account of hiding for 91 days during the 1994 Rwandan genocide
- Website
- immaculee.com
- Wikipedia
- Read the article
About Immaculée Ilibagiza
Immaculée Ilibagiza grew up in Mataba, a village in western Rwanda, in a Catholic Tutsi family. Her parents were teachers. She was studying electrical and mechanical engineering at the National University of Rwanda when the genocide against the Tutsi began in April 1994.
A Hutu pastor hid her and seven other women in a small bathroom in his house, behind a wardrobe, for 91 days. Outside, militias killed her mother, her father and two of her brothers. Only one brother, who was studying abroad in Senegal, survived.
Left to Tell (2006), written with Steve Erwin, tells this story. It argues that prayer kept her alive and that she found a way to forgive the people who killed her family, including a man she later met in prison. After the genocide she worked for the United Nations, then moved to the United States, where she became a citizen in 2013. She writes Catholic devotional books and speaks around the world on faith and forgiveness.
Books by Immaculée Ilibagiza
New books, occasionally