The government last week launched a month-long campaign aimed at encouraging Rwandans to embrace heroism, a campaign that partly seeks to disabuse the notion that heroism is a preserve for a ‘few anointed’ individuals or that there are specific circumstances that allow for heroes to emerge. The month-long activities will precede the celebrations of the 30th National Heroes Day, which will be marked next month on February 1. The activities will also reflect on the deeds of the country’s heroes who have already been recognised in different categories. ALSO READ Rwanda needs more heroes, especially youth – officials Rwandan heroes are in three categories; Imanzi, Imena and Ingenzi; with the first being the highest honour bestowed upon any Rwandan who demonstrated outstanding achievements characterized by supreme sacrifice, outstanding importance and exemplary conduct. While we have heroes in the first two categories, we are yet to get those in the Ingenzi category and a search is on to identify national heroes not just in this category, but also for the others. ALSO READ: Know your national heroes The campaign launched last week will specifically target the youth from different parts of the country. Throughout this campaign, like ones before it, the overriding message to the people of Rwanda is that every person in their capacity, have an opportunity to be heroes and that there are no specific situations that allows for heroes to emerge. A case in point is Nyange students, whose school located in western Rwanda was attacked by extremist assailants in 1997 and refused to separate along ethnic lines to the point of losing their lives. These students have since been recognised under the Imena category. ALSO READ: 25 years later, Nyange remembers gruesome attack, student heroes The lesson here is that young or old, anyone can become a hero. Neither does it warrant wartime for heroes to emerge. As long as we embody the values necessary, then anyone can be a hero. That said, we must not do what we must do for the country with an aim of being recognised as heroes, because, the values that heroes embody are expected of everyone of us and above all, we must have our country at heart in whichever circumstance we find ourselves in.
