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Rwandan Genocide Survivor to Share Her Story
A remarkable story of finding peace in God in the midst of tragedy.Posted: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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TICKETS (General Public) The general public may purchase tickets in advance online, starting today for $15.
Tickets at the door will be $20 for adults, $5 for students and University employees.
Franciscan University Students
Tickets for FUS students will be available on campus beginning Monday, February 22. |
STEUBENVILLE, OH—The Rwandan Genocide killed nearly 1 million people in 100 days. A woman who survived it will share her miraculous story at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Immaculée Ilibagiza will speak in Finnegan Fieldhouse on Tuesday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. Doors open to the event at 6:30 p.m. She will share how prayer and trust in God helped her survive the horrific tragedy and find peace after it was over.
In 1994 Immaculée, a 22 year-old student at the National University of Rwanda, was home with her family for Easter. On April 7, she woke to the news that Rwanda's president had died in a plane crash. The event caused a long-standing feud between the majority tribe, Hutus, and the minority tribe, Tutsis, to erupt into a massacre. Hutus used machetes, spears, and knives to kill Tutsis wherever they found them. Immaculée, a Tutsi, was told by her father to go to a local pastor's house three miles away for help.
The pastor, though a Hutu, hid Immaculée and seven other women in a tiny 4 feet by 3 feet bathroom for 91 days. In that bathroom, Immaculée, a Roman Catholic, prayed the Rosary and taught herself English. 
When the women finally emerged, Immaculée weighed 65 pounds and could hardly walk. She soon discovered that her parents and two brothers had been brutally murdered in the genocide, but she forgave and even prayed for the killers. In one interview, she says she followed Jesus' words on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Immaculée immigrated to the United States in 1998 to work for the United Nations. Her first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, quickly climbed to the New York Times bestseller list. Immaculée also wrote Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide in 2008. Her book, Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World From the Heart of Africa, is about the Catholic Church-approved Marian apparitions that took place in Rwanda from 1981 to 1989.
Immaculée has received many awards, including The Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace in 2007. She has also appeared on CBS, PBS, CNN, EWTN, and many other media outlets, and her story has been made into a documentary, The Diary of Immaculée. Immaculée's Web site is www.immaculee.com.
Tickets for the general public may be purchased in advance for $15 by visiting the registration and tickets page. Tickets at the door will be $20 for adults and $5 for any area elementary, high school, and college students and University employees. Advance tickets for Franciscan University employees and students will be sold on campus starting Monday, February 22.
The event is sponsored by Solidarity and Student Life. Solidarity, a student organization at Franciscan University, works to spread awareness of injustices, such as homelessness, hunger, child soldiers, and genocide.
For more information, email FUSImmaculee@gmail.com.