Bleak times, as we have been through this past year, are – well - grim and depressing. But occasionally you find something that is really human that lifts the gloom and warms the heart.

You stumble on them – acts of generosity from an unlikely source, bravery from those usually not known for fearlessness, or even compassion from the hard-hearted. It does happen.

And so sometimes you come across a story that takes you away from the disheartening reports in the media that we have come to expect. On December 28, The Washington Post published such a rare story.

It offered welcome relief from the grim statistics of Covid-19, news about war and destruction, and the tantrums of grown up people, some of them in powerful positions.

More importantly, it showed that despite all the greed and selfishness we see around us, and the growing individualism of the me-first-and –only type, and callousness, human goodness still survives.

The story was about Samuel Quarcoo, a 71-year-old Ghanaian living in the United States who has been helping schools in his native country. For the past three decades, he has been sending to Ghana books and other scholastic materials, backpacks and uniforms, and much more.

That in itself is not extra-ordinary or moving. The touching bit is that Quarcoo is not a rich man with a lot to spare, or a person with contacts in powerful places. He is only a part-time teacher and waiter at a country club in Maryland.

He was not even originally inclined to be helpful in the manner that he has become. The idea came to him via third grade pupils to whom he had given a talk about education in his country. They had soon after mobilised their little savings and sent the learning materials to pupils in Ghana.

It has now been more than thirty years and Mr Quarcoo has been doing what the third grade pupils started, sending to Ghana school materials acquired with his own money or donations from well-wishers. And when that became a little difficult, he started taking them there himself, flying out to Ghana twice a year on a philanthropic mission.

Such generosity as Quarcoo’s is not commonly reported and may appear a rare happening. But it has always been there in human history, especially among those who have barely enough for themselves and certainly nothing to spare. Many of these usually go unnoticed and mostly wish to remain so except when the media learns of their good work and makes it public or the chroniclers of the past record them for the instruction of posterity.

Think of the story of the widow in the Bible who had only enough flour and oil to make one meal for herself and her son and then wait for death, but was willing to share it with Elijah, a total stranger. Luckily for the widow, her generosity was rewarded with never-ending supplies.

Here at home, think of the many ordinary Rwandans, powerless except for their large hearts, who sheltered their hunted compatriots, some unknown to them, or escorted them to safety during the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 in Rwanda. They risked their own lives, expected no reward, but were driven by a sense of human decency.

Today there are many individuals pay school fees, mutuelle de sante, and other expenses for entire families or even communities.

Not so long ago (less than 60 years ago) this sort of selflessness was the norm in Rwanda. Rwandans used to open their doors to travellers caught up by nightfall and in need of a place to spend the night before continuing on their journey the next day. Lasting friendships and a network of contacts across the country were forged in this manner.

This way also, they created a consciousness of oneness and nationhood that was so strong that it could only be broken by the most extreme violence, including attempted extermination of some Rwandans, lies and falsification of history and many years of indoctrination of an ideology of genocide.

Those broken bonds have now been repaired and the sense of togetherness and belonging rebuilt. That perhaps explains the signs of generosity we see re-emerging among ordinary Rwandans.

And this is what the story of Quarcoo and those of thousands of others in this country and millions around the world teach us. Philanthropy is not for the rich only, those who have made a lot of money and no longer need to make more, and for whatever reason want to share it with others. Even those with little can be benefactors, within their means, of course.

In the end, doing good is a mind-set and a matter of the heart, not necessarily of the pocket, although it helps if the pocket is deep.

The views expressed in this  article are of the writer.