This is my second blog post, and I have completed my book. I just couldn't put it down. Although I'm done, I will still lead you through the story from where I left off.
In the previous post, I introduced Immaculee and her family backround. She grew up in paradise with loving family and friends, but little did she know that most of those people would turn on her. I had explained the discrimination that was starting to evolve. Now, I will go more in depth.
RETELLEaster was now approaching and Immaculee received a letter from her father, begging her to come home. (I forgot to mention, after all the hard work and the strong faith in God, Immaculee finally got her scholarship to university.) As much as she wanted to be home, she had an important exam coming up and wanted to prepare for it. Her dad continued to beg, promising to give her all the time necessary to study, and so she finally gave in. She arrived home with one of her brother's friends, Augustine. One evening at dinner, Damascene's constant smile had turned into something somber. After asking him what was going on, he had confessed to seeing the killers, (the Interhamwe; those responsible for the genocide) holding hand grenades and a list of all the Tutsis families they planned on killing and claimed that their own names were on that death list. He pleaded that they must escape that very night, suggesting that they take a boat from Lake Kivu, hoping to reach Zaire.(Now named Congo) Not wanting to believe so, his dad assured him that he just letting his imagination get to him. The next day, Immaculee awoke by the loud burst of her door, and the terrified look on her brother's face. Damascene had heard on the radio, that the President of Rwanda had been shot out of the sky while returning from a peace treaty in Tanzania. A couple of days ago, the leader of the Interhamwe, Theoneste Bagosora, was disgusted with the peace being made in his country. So he gladly promised that once the President was dead, he would return to Rwanda and prepare an apocalypse. Theoneste must be a man of his word because that's exactly what he did. Every family was ordered to not leave the house, due to the fighting that had already started. So Immaculee's family just sat outside listening to the radio, staying updated with all that was going on. All they would hear were words of encouragement to all the Hutus citizens to pick up their machetes and kill all the Tutsis population. The Hutus referred to the Tutsis as coackroaches because they were meant to be exterminated, and snakes because they were meant to be killed. As the hours passed, many scared Tutsis citizens began to show up at Immaculee's home, wanting her father's great advice. The number of people in the crowd soon went up to about 10,000 people. The killers would often show up at their gate, but all the men in the big crowd would charge at them with their spears causing them to leave. But not for long. During the genocide, there were various way to kill an individual, but the woman would get tortured the most due to their vulnerability. One thing that the HIV POSITIVE killers were encouraged to do were pass on their AIDS to the women as they would rape them, and either leave them to die or just finish them off with their machetes. Immaculee's father did not want this cruel thing to happen to his daughter, so he suggested she, her little brother and his friend to run to the Pastor Murinzi's house (a great Hutu family friend) so he would hide them. At first, Immaculee hesitated, saying she did not want to leave her family alone. But her dad assured her that he would come back and get her, himself. Little did she know, those would be the last words she would ever hear her beloved father say.
RELATEI really do not how I can relate to Immaculee. She was a very dedicated student, always looking out for her future. I could somehow relate to her in that way because I do look out for my future. But I am not as hard-working as she is. As all this was happening, she would never lose faith telling her family that everything would be okay, God was with them. I also have the same attitude occaisionally but she constantly never gave up. Personally, I would have a little bit. My mom has a friend named Anita, who is another survivor of the genocide and she went through similar obstacles to her survival. I have heard Anita's story, and it is quite different but every story has it's own ending. I guess that could be another way I could relate to Immaculee.
REFLECTThis book has honestly impressed me. The horrifying hard times that she lived are heart-breaking. The faith that she put in God and the miracles that He has done for her are incredible. I don't want to ruin the story as yet, so that is all I'll say for now. But as I continue to blog, I hope Immaculee's story encourages you to see life in another perspective and just thank God for the life you live now. You may say you hate your life, but there are certainly people out there who have or had it ten times worse. And Immaculee or even Anita are living proof of that fact.
