Left to Tell
Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
I’ve got to say this is one of the most amazing stories of faith, survival and forgiveness I’ve ever read. Immaculee, the 24-year-old daughter of a reasonably prosperous Tutsi family, was home for Easter holidays from University when the 1994 Rwandan genocide erupted in her town. After fleeing the family home when it came under attack, she and seven other Tutsi women were given refuge by a (somewhat reluctant) Protestant Hutu Pastor, who was a friend of her devoutly Catholic parents. The women spent three months hiding in a tiny bathroom from whence they had to listen to ravening packs of Hutu thugs (Interahamwe militia) searching the pastor’s house repeatedly for hidden Tutsis to murder. While in hiding, Immaculee learned of the deaths of her parents and two of her three brothers at the hands of the mob. Instead of letting herself drown in hate and bitterness or despair, she turned to prayer and began a journey of faith in that desperate cramped bathroom that was to lead her on to forgiveness and hope, the central themes of this remarkable book.
The Pastor eventually turned the women out of his home when he learned that an encampment of French UN troops had pitched up nearby. On the way there, and later en route to Tutsi rebel lines, they had to walk through throngs of Hutu refugees and militia, now fleeing the onslaught of the victorious Tutsi rebel army. Eventually, through her own efforts and the kindness of strangers, she made it to the capital, Kisangani, learned English, found work with the UN and met her American husband-to-be.
In the course of all of this she made a trip back to her home village and confronted her parent’s and brother’s murderers and, to the surprise of her Tutsi friends, forgave them instead of demanding revenge. These are perhaps the most moving moments in the book.
An altogether remarkable story, Left to Tell is great interest to students of the Rwandan civil wars, the evolution and psychology of genocidal epochs (of which there have been far too many) in human history and of survival under extremely difficult physical, psychological and spiritual circumstances.
