Genocide survivor in New York City has message for new US citizens: Forgive your enemies
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Immaculee Ilibagiza, fourth from right, center, join new immigrants in the pledge allegiance, during the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization ceremony on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 in New York. Ilibagiza, author of the best seller “Left to Tell, Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust,” addressed fellow immigrants with her story of hiding in a 3-by-4 foot bathroom with seven other women and girls before fleeing the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which claimed more than 500,000 lives. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (The Associated Press)
A Rwandan genocide survivor who has just become a U.S. citizen has a message of hope for other new Americans.
Immaculee Ilibagiza (ih-MAK'-yoo-lee ee-luh-bag-EE'-zuh) became a naturalized American with 50 other immigrants at a Manhattan ceremony on Wednesday.
She is the author of the best-seller "Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ilibagiza told fellow immigrants how she survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed more than a half-million lives. She says her Tutsi father sent her to a Hutu neighbor who hid her and seven other women and girls in a tiny bathroom for three months.
The 43-year-old mother of two says her life now is about forgiving enemies who are emotionally lost.