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Rwandan Genocide Survivor Triumphs Despite Hardship

January 2009
By Andrea Leonardelli

Immaculée Ilibagiza, author of “Left to Tell,” shared her strength and faith at the Geneva B. Johnson leadership lecture series event, held on Thursday, Oct. 16 in Bergstrom Hall. The event was sponsored by the Women’s Leadership Institute. The lecture was designed to bring people together to examine and discuss contemporary women’s issues and to help further the public’s understanding of topics concerning women. Due to high attendance, things were off to a late start. The audience, however, was enthusiastic and attentive. Opening remarks were made by Eileen Schwalbach, Mount Mary’s acting president and Yvonne Lumsden-Dill, executive director of the Women’s Leadership Institute.

As Lumsden-Dill stated, “It was a glorious day as Mount Mary featured a very special keynote speaker who shared some wonderful stories and wonderful inspiration.”
Geneva B. Johnson, retired president and CEO of Family Services of America and chair of Mount Mary College Women’s Leadership Institute Advisory Board, gave the introduction to Immaculée Ilibagiza’s speech. Johnson stated the three key elements the Women’s Leadership Institute believes a woman leader should exemplify: team and individual leadership, as well as stewardship. She introduced Ilibagiza as “a shining example of these key elements.”

Ilibagiza was born in Rwanda. She studied electronic and mechanical engineering at the National University in Rwanda. In 1994, her life dramatically changed when she lost most of her family during the Rwandan genocide. Ilibagiza survived the genocide by huddling in a cramped bathroom with seven other women for 91 days in a local pastor’s house.

Ilibagiza spoke about this hardship; she found herself in fear and torment while struggling to survive. She had no food or water. She did, however, have a dictionary, from which she was able to learn English. She eventually wrote her autobiography “Left to Tell,” which she had no intent of publishing.
She admits, “When I started I couldn’t stop my hands.” Writing everything in her heart, she used the experience to journal what she was facing.

Through faith and forgiveness she was able to face her enemies and move forward with her life. Despite her loss of family and friends, she continued to be loving and understanding. Her faith of something better and more positive kept her alive. She constantly prayed and asked God to help her.

In 1998, she immigrated to the United States. After writing “Left to Tell,” she created the Left to Tell Charitable Fund, which benefits orphaned children who have faced the genocide. In the last few years she has received many awards, including the Mohat Magandi Award for International Reconciliation, in 2005. This November she will receive the Outstanding Catholic Leadership Award from the Catholic Leadership Institute.

Talisa Larson, English and philosophy major at Mount Mary, believes God is working through Immaculée to inspire others. “We can overcome even the most extreme cases of injustice,” said Larson. “We just need help and we need faith.”