By Karon Majeel

It is difficult to express Immaculée Ilibagiza’s words in more than mere verbal abstractions. But one may be moved by an unforgettable memory of experiencing the horror of genocide in her native Rwanda, living in unimaginable terror and surviving, “left to tell” her story.
Ilibagiza is the author of Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. She survived for 91 days in 1994, in a three-by-four foot bathroom, along with seven other women, narrowly escaping a brutal death that threatened them “on just the other side of the door.”
CBS News’ 60 Minutes reunited Ilibagiza with her seven companions from that tiny bathroom this past summer, with the segment scheduled to air near the Thanksgiving holiday. Today she travels the world demonstrating the power of love and forgiveness and reminding us of the beauty and horror in the world.
Ilibagiza speaks of “the perfection of love,” unconditional and unsolicited. “Just by a look of kindness, we can change the world,” she told the sold-out crowd at the Newman Center at the University of Denver last month. When asked how she was able to forgive fellow Rwandans responsible for the genocide in her country, including the slaughter of her mother, father and two of three brothers, she offered her personal testimony.
Ilibagiza 's lecture was a personal story of faith and redemption, told with humor and humility. She laughed with the audience as she described searching for a good deed to perform. “I prayed from six o’clock in the morning to 10 o’clock at night,” she said. “I couldn’t speak to the other women for fear our voices would be heard and they would find us and kill us. So I turned to God, so I could tune out the negative voices in my head, the voices of hatred.”
Ilibagiza laughingly recalled her daily arguments with God. She told of silent screams of  “but I don’t want to forgive them,” and a voice that always answered with love and understanding, gently – and relentlessly – encouraging her to let go of her hate and forgive. Eventually, she explained, “I put it all back on God. Show me how to forgive, since you’re so good at it!”
Ilibagiza lives in New York City with her husband and two children and is a determined advocate for holocaust survivors around the globe. While responding to a question at the Newman Center about the genocide in the Sudan, the audience got a glimpse of her determination – and her hope.  “We must all do whatever we can to stop this. It is our responsibility to help each other,” she said.
A portion of the proceeds from her book sales, and all the proceeds from wristband sales, go to the Left To Tell Charitable Fund, her vision for helping African children “build better lives.”
“The African Union needs money to meet the needs of Darfur,” she said. “Anyone here have a million dollars?” 

Editor’s note: For more information on the Left To Tell Charitable Fund, or to purchase a Left To Tell wristband, visit www.LeftToTell.com.