Date: Apr 15, 2008

Hofstra Honors Genocide Awareness Week With Immaculée Ilibagiza, Rwandan Genocide Witness

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Rwandan genocide witness Immaculée Ilibagiza, author of Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, will speak on her experiences on Thursday May 15, 2008 at 9 p.m. in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, Fist Floor, South Campus. Her talk is sponsored by the Hofstra University Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. in conjunction with New Opportunities At Hofstra, Black Hispanic Alumni Association, Office of Student Leadership and Activities, and The Nortel Black Business Council.

Ms. Ilibagiza is a living example of faith put into action. Her life was transformed dramatically during the 1994 Rwandan genocide when she and seven other women spent 91 days huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor’s house. During this horrific ordeal, she lost most of her family, but she survived to share the story and her transition to forgiveness and a profound relationship with God.

Four years after the Rwandan tragedy, Ms. Ilibagiza immigrated to the United States and began working for the United Nations in New York City.

Today, she is regarded as one of the world’s leading speakers on peace, faith, and forgiveness. She has shared her universal message with world dignitaries, school children, multinational corporations, churches, and at many conferences. Ms. Ilibagiza works hard to spread her message and to raise money for her Left to Tell Charitable Fund, which directly benefits the children orphaned by the genocide and has relocated more than 60 Rwandan orphans.

“I hope that one day we can laugh and move on holding hands despite the past,” Ms. Ilibagiza says. “Life has a lot to offer and a lot of love to give.”

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information on Ms. Ilibagiza and Left to Tell Charitable Fund please visit www.lefttotell.com .

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