Emmanuel Yeboah - 05/15/08
When Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah was born, his mother was advised to kill her son.
Emmanuel was born in 1977 in the West African nation of Ghana with one leg, and to his father, who held the view of many in the African community, his son was the sign of a curse and great misfortune. Emmanuel’s father left the family in disgrace, but the life of his son was destined to be special. His mother, fittingly named Comfort, decided to think differently about her son. She treated him like an able bodied kid, pushing him to attend school even if that meant she needed to carry him the two miles to attend.
Emmanuel stayed in the school until age 13 when poverty and the illness of his mother compelled him to seek work in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Soon Emmanuel found himself shining shoes for two dollars a day and settled into a rhythm until December of 1997 when he returned home to be with his mother as she passed away. When he returned back to Accra with a heavy heart, Emmanuel developed a bold idea developed a bold idea; pedal across his country to show that disabled in body did not mean disabled in mind. The idea had been planted from the last words from his mother.
Yeboah learned of the Challenged Athlete Foundation (CAF), composed a letter to the San Deigo based organization, and requested a bicycle. CAF responded with not only a bicycle, but gear and a $1,000 grant to get him started. It was this bicycle and the funding that allowed Emmanuel to ride 380 miles across his country in 2002, gaining national media attention and becoming a spokesman for the rights of the handicapped in his country.
The momentum did not stop there as CAF, who had been closely following his progress, brought Emmanuel to Sand Diego to participate in its 2002 Triathlon Challenge. It took over seven hours, but Emmanuel completed the 56 mile cycle portion of the challenge. Then, in April of 2003 Loma Linda Medical Center performed an operation free of charge that enabled Yeboah to be fitted with a prosthetic leg, and later that year he walked into his church in Ghana for the first time in his life
From handicapped orphan to human rights activist, Emmanuel is a shining example of what the bicycle can achieve in Africa. Emmanuel became the first handicapped individual to invited to the King’s palace. It would be symbolic ceremony where Emmanuel was able to give 15 handicapped kids educational scholarship. With awards Emmanuel received from Nike and CAF, he founded the Emmanuel Educational Foundation & Sports Academy for the Physically Challenged.
In April of 2008 Two Wheeled Foundation members helped Jamaica Plan, Massachusetts based Bikes not Bombs load a special shipment of recycled bicycles that will be sent to Ghana to be used in collaboration with Emmanuel’s Foundation to create a bicycle workshop operated by and beneficial to the handicapped of Ghana.
You can learn more about Emmanuel's story by viewing a documentary about his journey called Emmanuel’s Gift. There is information about his organization at the Emmanuel's Education Foundation website and at the Bikes Not Bombs website you can find information about BNB's innovative work with Emmanuel and other African communities.