LEFT TO TELL (IMMACULLE ILIBGIZA)

In 1994, the genocide that happened in Rwanda had slaughtered more than a million people of Tutsi ethnicity. Fortunately, there were a lot of people who escaped and survived to tell the story about the terrors. Immaculee Ilibgiza was one of the blessed women that survived the genocide. She wrote Left to Tell to depict the true story about her life when the massacres happened. She and seven other women were offered a bathroom that was four feet long and three feet wide by Pastor Murinzi which had hidden them from the extremists for nearly three months. The autobiography of Immaculee describes the terrors that these women had to experience. Moreover, it was also about the discovering of God’s power in Immaculee’s life. Left to Tell is an outstanding book that has powerful stories. There are two chapters in particular that are impactful. One chapter illustrates the importance of family and the other demonstrates the power of forgiveness. 

Before the genocide happened, Rwanda’s population was seven million that contained three ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. Hutu’s population was approximately 85%, while Tutsi’s population was only 14% and Twa was 1%. In the 1990s, the extremists of Hutu blamed the previous, oppressive Tutsi regime for the increasing of social, economic and political problems. As the result, when the Hutu gained power, they created propaganda of fear and hatred toward the Tutsi.

In April 6^th, 1994, when Rwanda President went to sign the peace treaty with the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), which is the Tutsi rebel group, his plane was shot down. The genocide immediately exploded because the Hutu extremists believed that the Tutsi rebel group deliberately assassinated the President. The extremists launched their plan to massacre the entire Tutsi population. The politicians, who were suspected of assassinating the President, were murdered first. 800,000 Tutsi’s and thousands of moderate Hutu’s were killed in 3 months. 250,000 to 500,000 women were raped and then murdered. The genocide ended when the Tutsi rebel group (RPF) defeated the government forces. Paul Kagame, the Tutsi rebel group leader became Rwandan President at the end of the holocaust. Moreover, many countries in the world, especially Western countries, felt shame because of their inaction and attitude toward the massacres. They knew the slaughters in Rwanda happened through news and agencies. However, they had decided to not intervene nor prevent the genocide. The genocide ended with more than a million corpses that were left behind and the sorrows of civilian that could hardly be erased. 

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza was a magnificent book that illustrated the terrors that all the Tutsi had experienced.  The feeling of losing hope, family and being hunted by the extremists had brought the readers into a world of sympathy and terror toward what had happened. The readers could feel the pain of Immaculee when she had to force her little brother Vianney and his friend Augustine out of the Pastor’s house and went into the chaos. “I worried that if Vianney left, I might never see anyone in my family again” (Immaculee, 68). Immaculee could predict that if she let her brother go, it would be that last time she saw her family member. She had the fear of being the last survivor of her family. That moment was heartbreaking for a lot of readers. It evoked the feeling of sympathy and reminded people about their family. Due to the fact that humans cannot predict the future, they cannot know what may happen to their family at any time. Chapter “Farewell to the boys” in Left to Tell by Immaculee does not only express her emotion toward her brother but also reminds people about the value of family, which could be lost at any time.

After the genocide, the hardest thing for the Tutsi was to learn how to forgive the Hutu, those who had murdered and slaughtered Tutsi families. However, Immaculee was successful in learning how to forgive those who had slaughtered her family. “Felicien had hunted me….Felicien was sobbing. I could feel his shame. He looked up at me for only a moment, but our eyes met. I reached out, touched his hand lightly, and quietly said what I’d come to say: “I forgive you”” (Immaculee, 204). That would be the hardest thing to say toward a murderer, especially the one who used to hunt and kill Tutsi families. However, Immaculee did it. She believed in God and his power of forgiveness. She found the peace in her soul by not seeking for revenge but forgiveness.  Chapter “Forgiving the living” reminds people about the power of forgiveness in life. In fact, humans do not easily forgive each other’s faults. They cannot let go the anger they hold in their heart.

In essence, Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an outstanding book that is not only depicted the terror of Rwanda genocide, but also remind the readers about the sympathy and the God’s power. Immaculee prayed to God almost 24 hours a day during the time she hide in the bathroom. She proved to the readers that as long as you believe and pray to God, he would response. The Immaculee’s story has impacted on more than million people in the world, including me.

Her stories have many meanings about life that humans need to learn. For instance, the chapter “Farewell to the boys” shows the importance of family that humans could lose at any time. Furthermore, the power of forgiveness in life is immeasurably valuable. It helps humans put down the sorrows that others create and brings peace to all.