The Rwandese Peace Advocate Ms. Immaculee ILibagiza will arrive in the country Wednesday as guest of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
During the weeklong visit, Miss ILibagiza will share her story, experience and motivation for survival with Liberians. It is hoped that by sharing her story, Liberians will be further strengthened to deal with their conflict past and promote healing and recovery amongst victims of the conflict.
On Friday, June 5, 2009 a program will be held at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion on Ashmun Street where Immaculee will speak and share her experience with the people of Liberia.
The program is organized under the auspices of the TRC, Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia and TruthReconciled of the United States of America.
Madam ILibagiza's visit to Liberia is in consonance with the TRC mandate to promote reconciliation and healing in Liberia following the country's civil conflict.
Immaculee's life was transformed dramatically during the 1994 Rwandan genocide where she and seven other women spent 91 days huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house. She entered the bathroom a vibrant, 115-pound university student with a loving family but emerged weighing just 65 pounds to find her entire family had been brutally murdered with the exception of one brother.
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She later came face to face with the killer of her mother and her brother and said the unthinkable, "I forgive you." Immaculee knew, while in hiding, that she would have to overcome the immeasurable odds without her family and with her country destroyed.
Immaculee is a recipient of several notable international awards, publisher and host of a documentary titled: "Ready to Forgive, A African Story of Grace," a project sponsored by The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
Today she is regarded as one of the world's leading speakers on peace, faith, and forgiveness.
