A survivor of the Rwanda Genocide gives glory to God for her life and plans to share her experiences with the Thibodaux-Houma area through a spiritual retreat in March.
Immaculée Ilibagiza, motivational speaker and published author from Rwanda came to Thibodaux on Sept. 24 to speak to high school students from both E.D. White High School in Thibodaux and Vanderbilt High School in Houma, sharing some of her life story and how she got through some troubling times through the help of God and his mother Mary.
As a devout Catholic, Ilibagiza always gives the upmost respect to her Lord through daily prayer and devotion. As she came to speak, she kneeled before the altar in reverence to God and Mary.
Ilibagiza spoke about the days leading up to the Genocide, which happened in 1994 when she was only 23 years old.
“I heard my brother tell my father ‘[I heard] people are going to kill us tonight,'” Ilibagiza recalled.
Even through the rumors circulating around her hometown, she and her brother were told to go to bed just as they did every night. Soon after, the rumors became reality, and Ilibagiza soon found herself locked in a cramped bathroom with seven other women in a local pastor’s house for 91 days.
While Ilibagiza was locked away, she spent her days praying and learning how to speak English.
Once she and the rest of the surviving women were finally free from harm, Ilibagiza found out she and her brother were the only people of her immediate family who survived the Genocide.
Still today, Ilibagiza keeps in contact with two of the women she was locked in the bathroom with during the genocide.
Though the loss of her family and close friends weighed heavy on her, Ilibagiza found that forgiveness was key in order to move on with her life.
“If you wish to forgive, it will happen,” Ilibagiza said. “God is real. He will help you.”
Iliabigiza’s entire story of how she survived the Rwandan Genocide can be found in her book Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.
Ilibagiza believes it was her faith that kept her alive during these troubling times, and she continues to share her story with others through her speeches and her literary works.
All of Ilibagiza’s books, including Left to Tell, can be bought at her website www.immaculee.com . All proceeds go to charity, including the Left to Tell Charitable Fund, which helps orphans who are from Ilibagiza’s home of Rwanda.
Today, Ilibagiza speaks around the world, sharing her story and how she came to forgive those people who killed her loved ones.
Ilibagiza will be back in the Thibodaux-Houma area for a two-day retreat on March 7 and 8 at St. Genevieve Catholic Church during the Lenten season.
People of all faiths are welcome to the retreat, which is based around her story of forgiveness and how she survived through the Genocide. Ilibagiza has had several retreats in Louisiana, in which many conversion stories have happened.