Immaculee And Her Life Journey

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Immaculee was born into a loving family. Her parents, Leonard and Rose, gifted her with a name meaning 'shining and beautiful in body and soul'. Her name would prove to be true as she grew through childhood and into adulthood. Immaculee was one of four siblings and the only daughter in the family. In Rwandan culture, being a good girl—clean, well mannered and virtuous—was important to maintain personal status and family reputation. The expectations of society were mirrored in her home, although her parents also expected her to study and expand her horizons. Her parents were both trained as educators. In addition to being educators, her family subsidized their income by farming. They grew and harvested beans, coffee and bananas on their property near Lake Kivu. While Immaculee's family was wealthy by Rwandan standards, their profits were earned fairly through hard work. Because of this wealth, the family possessed much land on the shore of Lake Kivu, owned two vehicles—one automobile and one motorcycle—and had an ample home. While simple by American standards, their home was considered immense for Rwanda and its solar panels yielded one hour of electricity per day. This was considered luxurious living. Immaculee was raised on her family's property in the village of Mataba in the country of Rwanda. It is a poor area, although beautiful in topography. Immaculee and her brothers routinely walked eight miles to the local elementary school.By some standards, this would seem like a long or unsafe journey, but as a child Immaculee never felt the need for protection. She felt at ease in Rwanda. On her first day in the fourth grade, having graduated from her mother's schoolhouse at the age of ten, Immaculee experienced ethnic segregation for the first time. During roll call the students were separated according to the categories of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. Generations

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