During the just-concluded Rwanda Day in Washington DC, twin sisters Joselyne and Josephine Higiro, or simply Bukuru and Butoyi, stood to thank President Paul Kagame for having facilitated them to acquire land for their non-profit supporting vulnerable families.

They shared that with the land facility they got from the government in 2013, they were able to support different people in Bugesera District, and that they were grateful to be part of the community’s transformation. Their support is through education, family support, and community development.

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While such noble action may not necessarily land them a national hero title, like the ones we celebrate every February 1, they have impacted thousands of lives directly or indirectly.

In a previous interview with The New Times, they said living in a refugee camp when they were younger highly influenced their decision to help the less privileged. Generosity, humanity, and other traits of nobility are seen in their story and other people’s who have done the same or even more.

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What is more striking, is that we don’t need so much to be noble, since nobility itself is engraved in our culture of "ubupfura”. Our ancestors used to say ‘ubupfura buba mu nda’, which implies that nobility lies in integrity. This not only means to be just and fair, but to also be compassionate and share with those who don’t have as much as we do.

We cannot always wait for the government to send children in our communities to school, or watch our neighbors starve until the people in charge of citizen welfare identify them.

There are already programmes that we could exploit to help others, such as through Umuganda. We could plan special Umuganda in our communities, specifically to address issues of extreme poverty. We could also share the little we have with neighbors without necessarily waiting for intervention.