By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

Immaculée Ilibagiza, a survivor of the horrific 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed 800,000 men, women and children, will speak 7-8.30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 16, at St. Ann Church in Kaneohe.

Ilibagiza, who was featured last month on a segment of the CBS-TV news magazine 60 Minutes, has written her story in the book Left to Tell. She is now on a speaking tour to benefit Rwandan orphans and other African children affected by war and other conflicts.

Ilibagiza, a Catholic, survived the mass killings by hiding for 91 days in a bathroom with seven other women while gangs armed with guns and machetes searched for them nearby, even calling out her name and threatening to stamp her out “like a cockroach.”

Most of her family, friends and neighbors were murdered.

During her hiding, Ilibagiza, who was 22 at the time, developed a deep relationship with God that led her to have the power to forgive even those who murdered her family.

Of her book Ilibagiza, states, “This is my story, told as I remember it … and I remember it as though it happened yesterday. It’s a true story; I use my own name and the names of my family. This is the story of how I discovered God during one of history’s bloodiest holocausts. I wrote this book hoping that others may benefit from my story.”

A free will offering will be taken after the presentation. Donations are tax-deductible and will go to Ilibagiza’s foundation, The Left to Tell Charitable Fund.

The talk is sponsored by the Sacred Hearts Fathers and Brothers, the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, the Catholic Women’s Guild, the diocesan Women’s Concerns Committee, the Marianists and St. Augustine Parish in Waikiki.