{{Short description|Rwandan author}} '''Consolee Nishimwe''' (born 11 September 1979) is a Rwandan author, a motivational speaker, and a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8TPcdxjPzUC|title=Tested to the Limit: A Genocide Survivor's Story of Pain, Resilience and Hope|first=Consolee|last=Nishimwe|date=June 27, 2012|publisher=BalboaPress|isbn=9781452549590 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://womensmediacenter.com/shesource/expert/consolee-nishimwe|title=Consolee Nishimwe - SheSource Expert - Women's Media Center|website=womensmediacenter.com}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/i-was-tested-limit-%E2%80%94-rwanda-genocide-survivor |title=I was tested to the limit — Rwanda genocide survivor | Africa Renewal |publisher=Un.org |date= |accessdate=2022-08-27}}</ref><ref name="auto5">{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/74113/rwanda-genocide-survivor-lasting-reminders/|title=One Survivor's Tale of the Rwandan Genocide and Its Reminders|magazine=Time}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/02/16/the-food-of-liberation-a-dinner-series-with-a-mission/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815200626/https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/02/16/the-food-of-liberation-a-dinner-series-with-a-mission/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 15, 2020|title=The Food of Liberation: A Dinner Series With a Mission|date=February 16, 2016|website=The Village Voice}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/04/1007301|title=World 'must nurture the courage to care – and the resolve to act,' says UN chief, reflecting on 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda|date=April 13, 2018|website=UN News}}</ref>
==Background== Nishimwe was born on 11 September 1979 in Rubengera, Kibuye, Rwanda. Her mother, Marie-Jeanne Mukamwiza, and father, Andre Ngoga were both primary school teachers. They met in 1972 and married in August 1977. Nishimwe is the eldest of five children. She speaks English and Kinyarwanda.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>
==Rwandan genocide== Nishimwe was 14 when the Rwandan genocide began in April 1994. The family took refuge in a Muslim area for protection but her father and aunt were killed on 15 April 1994. A week later, her three brothers, 16-month-old Bon-Fils Abimana, 7-year-old Pascal Muvara, and 9-year-old Philbert Nkusi, were murdered. Her grandparents and uncles were also killed. Nishimwe fled and hid for three months, enduring torture and other hardship, including sexual assault which resulted in HIV infection. Her mother, Marie-Jeanne, and sister, Jeanette Ingabire, survived. By the end of the genocide, 90% of the Tutsis in their town had been killed.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto5"/>
==Activism== In 2001, Nishimwe moved to the United States where she became a human rights activist and motivational speaker. In 2012, she published a memoir, ''Tested To The Limit: A Genocide Survivor's Story Of Pain, Resilience And Hope''. In 2014, she spoke at the Yale University symposium on the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEUxQLHH8Ts|title=Local Legacies in of the Genocide in Rwanda: Consolee Nishimwe - YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> In 2018, she addressed the United Nations General Assembly.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{cite tweet|number=986009082149601285|user=RwandaUN|title=Consolee Nishimwe, Genocide survivor and author of 'Tested to the Limit: A Genocide Survivor's Story of Pain, Resil…|date=16 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite news|url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2021/07/08/through-life-experience-consolee-nishimwe-seeks-ad/|title=Through life experience, Consolee Nishimwe seeks to advocate for women and girls|first=Shania|last=Degroot|date=July 8, 2021|website=New York Amsterdam News}}</ref><ref name="auto5"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=56192491&itype=CMSID|title=Utahns pay tribute to genocide victims and survivors|website=The Salt Lake Tribune}}</ref><ref name="auto4"/>
==Personal life== Nishimwe now lives in New York City.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto5"/>
==Bibliography== *''Tested To The Limit: A Genocide Survivor's Story Of Pain, Resilience And Hope'' (2012)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nishimwe, Consolee}} Category:Rwandan human rights activists Category:Rwandan women human rights activists Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Tutsi people Category:Women motivational speakers Category:Survivors of the Rwandan genocide Category:Rwandan emigrants to the United States Category:Tutsi women