But that is about the extent of the physical gifts with which nature has endowed him. His body is short, and he has two twisted, virtually useless, childlike legs, on which he shuffles along crablike. He was born in a village located roughly halfway between the large seaport of Douala and Yaounde the National capital, but has spent 30 of his probable 40 odd years eking out a living on the footpaths of Douala, shining shoes. His current beat is outside the Akwa Palace Hotel, where he is well known, and tolerated by the kind management. Despite his handicap, and the poverty that engulfs him, he is eternally cheerful, with a ready smile, or a hearty laugh.
Resistance is impossible.
It would take a truly hardened soul to not respond with emotion to the hardship witnessed throughout Africa, and Emmanuel and many like him are a constant source of humility wherever I drift into self pity over some small issue. Recently I was chatting to him, and asked what gift he would like me to bring him on my next visit. He pulled a battered string of rosary beads out of his pocket and asked if I could bring him new ones. The he asked me if they made cowboy hats in Australia. When I assured him they did, he asked if one was a possibility, and would a sheriff's badge be asking too much.