Thursday, October 11, 2007

Left To Tell


Last night I had the privilege of seeing Immaculee Ilibagiza speak at a local high school and I was transformed by the experience. If you're unfamiliar with her story- this is the nut shell version:

In 1994, Rwandan native Ilibagiza was 22 years old and home from college to spend Easter with her family when the death of Rwanda's Hutu president sparked a three-month slaughter of nearly one million ethnic Tutsis. She survived by hiding in a Hutu pastor's tiny, 3 feet by 4 feet bathroom with seven other women for 91 days. When she finally emerged, weighing just 65 pounds, with only the clothes on her back- her family slaughtered, her home and all of her possessions destroyed- she managed to heal herself by doing the seemingly unimaginable-- forgiving her perpetrators.

Immaculees story is one of incredible perseverance--her message uplifting and inspiring-- and I left feeling grateful for EVERYTHING I have.

Her book, LEFT TO TELL, is one I can't wait to read!

4 comments:

Sara Hantz said...

Thanks for the heads up on this, I'll definitely buy her book.

Alyson Noel said...

Hey Sara-
I just started reading it today-- it's amazing! Still waiting for your to arrive. . .

Blu Chip said...

Hey Alyson,
Whoa, that's amazing. I definitely will check out this out.

Alyson Noel said...

Hey Blu-Chip-
I'm on page 75 and it's hard to put down-- I definitely recommend it!