...'Money Order', a Senegalese film made in 1968. It featured subtitles. Not a bad film. A lot of lessons to learn from. It followed the life of a poor man married with 2 wives and has a very generous heart. He received a money order from his nephew who went to Paris to forge out a living. The money order came with a letter specifying the amounts to be shared among certain people. When news gets out in the neighborhood of his 'good fortune', some people try to take advantage of his assumed 'largesse' and things start to become frustrating for him from being unable to cash the money order because he had no ID card. It turned out that he did not even have a birth certificate which was a pre-requisite to getting an ID card. He gets shabby treatment mainly because he was illiterate. He goes to have passport photographs taken and was swindled out of his deposit. Things came to a head when his educated nephew asks him to sign to give him the power of attorney to cash the money order on his behalf. Only for his own nephew to defraud him.
Now why am I telling you this? I cannot help but wonder to what extent that deaf people get exploited. If a poor and illiterate man can be taken advantage of, how much more the deaf who are invariably the poorest of the poor in the society. It is a very harsh world but I think that we all have a duty to make the world a better place for all. And that includes deaf people. They do not need your pity or a paltry handout. Every human being has something valuable to offer to the society; deaf people inclusive.
Permit me to stop here. Peace!!
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