Oprah Winfrey narrates most of the 2005 documentary “Emmanuel’s
Gift”, directed by Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern. This film tells the story of a boy
born in Ghana with a vestigial, deformed right leg and who went on to raise
money for disabled people in the country with bicycle tours. ‘
In Ghana, 10% of the people are disabled, and the culture
stigmatizes them, meaning that many wind up in the streets begging. As a boy, Emmanuel Yedoah left home to go to Accra to work
shining shoes to raise money for his mother – filial responsibility or piety is
very strong in these cultures – and became interested in cycling. I was amazed that this is possible with only
one leg. Emmanuel took inspiration from
an American athlete Jim MacLaran, who would be gravely injured in two separate
cycling accidents. Emmanuel would eventually have surgery in the United States
to remove the leg and be fitted with an effective prosthesis.
The last part of the film discusses the social and political
climate in Ghana, remarkable in that it is considered one of the most
democratic in Africa. Emmanuel is able
to raise funds and awareness to provide facilities and social respect for the
disabled in some communities.
Emmauel married in California and has one child, according
to the end credits.
The official site is here. The film is distributed by First Look and
produced by “Lookalike”.
The film makes me consider how I can “hide” behind moral
stigma in order not to feel more for people in his situation than I do. It can get personal.
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