The character arc of Immaculee Ilibagiza
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in Rwanda in 1972, a student of electrical and mechanical engineering at the National University of Rwanda. Between then and now sit the 1994 genocide, ninety one days hidden with seven other women in a bathroom about three feet by four, concealed behind a wardrobe in the home of a Hutu Lutheran pastor, the killing of her mother, her father and her brothers Damascene and Vianney, a brother abroad who knew nothing of it, years spent finding and encouraging orphans, a move to the United States, two books, a documentary, honorary doctorates and a peace award. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Immaculee Ilibagiza?
Twelve square feet, eight women. Ninety one days.
She was studying electrical and mechanical engineering at the National University of Rwanda when the 1994 genocide began. A Hutu Lutheran pastor hid her, and seven other women, in a bathroom in his house. It was about three feet by four, roughly twelve square feet for eight people, and it was concealed behind a wardrobe in another room. They were there for ninety one days.
While she was in it, most of her family were killed by Interahamwe: her mother, her father and her two brothers, Damascene and Vianney. The only other member of her immediate family to survive was her brother Aimable, who was studying in Senegal and did not know what was happening at home.
Her own account of the ninety one days, in Left to Tell, is about what her Catholic faith did for her inside that room, and it ends somewhere almost nobody expects: in forgiveness and compassion towards the people who had killed her family. She did not arrive at that afterwards, at a distance. She worked at it in the bathroom.
Her second book, Led by Faith, picks up the moment the first one ends. It is about the harder part: finding a place in the world again with almost no family left, and going out to look for orphans who were as lost as she was, and encouraging them. It ends with her reaching the United States and being safe enough to ask why she had survived at all.
She became a naturalised United States citizen in 2013. She speaks all over the world, received the Mahatma Gandhi Reconciliation and Peace Award in 2007 and honorary doctorates from the University of Notre Dame in 2007 and St John University in 2008. A documentary short about her, The Diary of Immaculee, was released in 2006, and she was the subject of a 60 Minutes segment that December. She has written four more books.
The moments
Immaculee Ilibagiza's timeline.
The 1990s
Engineering at university
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She was going to be an engineer.
Eight women, one bathroom
Setback, and it changed everything. Three feet by four, and eight people in it.
Her family are killed
Setback, and it changed everything. A brother in Senegal, and nobody else.
Carry it out, or leave it there
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: do the forgiving now, taken, or take it out with her. She spent the years afterwards finding orphans, then wrote two books about it and was given a peace award.
She forgives them
Milestone, and it changed everything. She did the work in the room, while it was still happening.
She comes out
Milestone, and it changed everything. Ninety one days, and then a door.
She looks for the orphans
Milestone, and it changed everything. She went and found other people who had lost everyone.
The 2000s
A safe place
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Far enough away to be able to look at it.
Left to Tell
Milestone, and it changed everything. She wrote down the ninety one days.
Sixty Minutes
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A documentary, and then a whole country watching.
The Gandhi peace award
Milestone, and it changed everything. An award named for the man who made the argument first.
Led by Faith
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The second book is about the harder part.
The 2010s
A new citizenship
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A second country, nineteen years later.
She is still speaking, still writing, still on the same subject. What she set moving is the most demanding claim any Character on this site makes, which is that the work of forgiving can be done in the middle of the thing rather than years after it, in a bathroom, while it is still going on outside the door.
Your turn
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Hers turned inside a room three feet by four, over ninety one days, on a decision nobody could see her make. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Immaculee Ilibagiza: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Immaculee Ilibagiza's character arc?
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What awards has Immaculee Ilibagiza received?
What did Immaculee Ilibagiza do after the genocide?
Where does this timeline of Immaculee Ilibagiza's life come from?
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Sources
- Immaculee Ilibagiza, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, Hay House, 2006, with Steve Erwin.
- Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide, Hay House, 2008.
- The Diary of Immaculee, the 2006 documentary short, and her 60 Minutes segment.