The 26-year-old a hotel heiress said in June that she was a changed person and vowed to shed her party-girl image after leaving jail where she served three weeks for violating probation in a drunken-driving case.
"Before, my life was about having fun, going to parties -- it was a fantasy," Hilton told Newsweek magazine, opting to speak to the news-focused journal rather than a celebrity magazine. "But when I had time to reflect, I felt empty inside. I want to leave a mark on the world."
She has acknowledged she has long enjoyed the Hollywood party scene but she said she spent her time in jail reading the Bible and praying to God for strength, deciding to give new meaning to her life by pursuing charity work.
During her trip to Rwanda, Hilton will be visiting schools and health-care clinics and staying in accommodations a long shot from the Hilton Hotels owned by her family.
"I'm scared, yeah. I've heard it's really dangerous," she told Newsweek (www.newsweek.com) in an issue on newsstands from October 15. "I've never been on a trip like this before."
