Jennifer
Rating:
Review
Imaculee Ilibagiza's unfailing belief in a higher power and her capacity for human forgiveness is almost beyond comprehension. Being one of the few Tutsi tribe members that survived the three month Rwandan genocide in 1994 is a true miracle. Relying on the kindness of human spirit in a local Hutu tribe member and pastor, Imaculee and seven other women escaped the wrath of their former friends and neighbors by being hid in a tiny bathroom for 91 days. Not being able to speak, move, or hardly eat, she and the other women survived on sheer strength of spirit, and in her case, it caused a profound spiritual transformation. This belief led to her eventually to seek out and forgive the people that had brutally killed most of her family members in a way that is unspeakable. Her story of survival shocked and moved me to the depth of my being. It encouraged me to analyze my own beliefs regarding faith, the power of positive thinking, and forgiveness. It is our duty to know this story and others like it and to comprehend that even in our modern society brutality of unspeakable measures can still happen, but to be reminded that hope and faith can save our soul in the midst of it.
Best Line:
"I believe that God had spared my life, but I'd learn during the 91 days I spent trembling in fear with seven others in a closet-sized bathroom that being spared is much different from being saved…..and this lesson changed me forever."
Kim
Rating:
Review
Ms. Ilibagiza claims in the very first sentence, "I was born in paradise" and until April 1994, Rwanda was everything she loved and cherished. It was home to her family, parents Leonard and Rose, both teachers, and brothers Aimable, Damascene and Vianney, along with several aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, and all belonging to the Tutsi tribe. The author was 19 years old when a civil war broke out, pitting Hutus against Tutsis. And so started 91 official days of Rwanda's genocide, killing an estimated 1 million Tutsi people. For those three months, Ms. Ilibagiza was hidden with five, then seven other women in a tiny bathroom in the home of a town Pastor. The women established a way of communicating with lip reading and hand signals, since chatting was out of the question, but for the most part, the author spent her time praying and reaffirming her faith in God. This memoir is unbelievably candid and written in a matter-of-fact tone, but is never preachy or condescending in the least. I found it to be inspirational and am in awe of the author's capacity for love and forgiveness. Once you sit down to read this, everything else will, and should be, ignored.
Best Line:
"I was living proof of the power of prayer and positive thinking, which really are almost the same thing."
