Thursday in Ghana: Meeting Emmanuel

On Thursday, we travelled to Koforidua in the eastern region of Ghana to meet Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah  of "Emmannual's Gift." and learn about the foundation he started for children with disabilities.  We were all so excited to meet him in person… or at least I was. The documentary is about his life growing up in Ghana with a disability. It is also about how he motivated himself to overcome the challenges of not only having been with missing one leg, but also the challenges related to lack of educational opportunities (he went to school until he was 13), poverty, and misconceptions about disabilities in his country.

After his mother (who always believed in him) died Emmanuel became inspired to change the negative perceptions of disabilities in Ghana by riding his bike across the country with just one leg! He wrote to an organization in the U.S. (Challenged Athletes?) to ask for a bike. His wish was granted and he became a hero by riding a mountain bike across the country. It worked! He gained recognition not only in Ghana but worldwide. He received a prostheses in the U.S. and one of the best parts of the film for me was when he remarked that he was so excited to wear pants and TWO shoes. Following his prostheses and rehab he literally completed several triathlons!

I was most inspired by Emmanuel not for what he accomplished but how unassuming, generous, and giving he is. It appears that he does not ask much for himself; instead he uses his celebrity to raise awareness and money to help others in Ghana. Emmanuel is currently planning to build a new school in his community that will include children with disabilities.  At the end of our visit, he showed us the land he will use to build the school.

Emmanuel personally greeted each of us as we got off the bus.

We certainly were not expecting the performances he provided us. We not only got to enjoy traditional African drummers, but also various talented performance artists: African dance performances, comical skits and routines, and finally, a fire-swallowing, glass-eating muscle-bound magician.

We were also treated with a beautiful African lunch of Groundnut (peanut) soup with chicken and rice balls. It was definitely my favorite meal that I’ve had in the five days we’ve been here.

Music, dance, and entertainment were provided.

Emmanual showed us his prostheses decorated with the American flag and introduced his children, Linda-Kim and Comfort (named after his mother)

Kevin, a student from our group, presented Emmanuel with a U of Del jersey

On Friday we went to Kakum national rainforest and the Elmina castle.  I will post pictures from that excursion when I get to Dubai and will hopefully have access to faster internet!

We leave late tonight (11:30 pm.) go through Cairo and arrive in Dubai mid-afternoon.  The locals are telling us we need to be at the Accra airport 4 hours early! Apparently, it takes a long time to get through security!