Africa in Motion

17 October 2016

Me a Belgian, My Mother a Ghanaian (2016) Review

By Katie Lawson

At the age of 14, Adams Mensah and his sister moved from their native Ghana to join their father in Belgium, leaving behind their mother and the rest of their family. Three years later, at the age of only 46, his mother suffered a massive stroke that left her partially paralysed and unable to speak. As a teenager Adams was unable to provide help for his mother, but now, six years later and now a Belgian citizen, Adams documents his journey as he travels home to his native Ghana to reunite with his mother, and seek out answers about what contributed to his mother’s current state of health.

After finding his mother and interviewing many relatives and neighbours, Adams returns to Belgium and, along with his sister, sets in motion plans for their mother to join them in Europe and receive better treatment, with the hopes that she will one day be able to speak again.

But along their journey from Ghana to Belgium, Adams and his family encounter a number of problems, from the Swiss embassy in Ghana and the Belgian embassy in the Ivory Coast, to his mother’s deteriorating health and expensive health care.

Shot using handheld cameras, Adams journey takes the audience on an incredibly emotional and at times heart breaking journey from his new home of Antwerp, Belgium, through the Ghanaian countryside to capital Accra, and eventually to the Ivory Coast and Abidjan.
As he travels through Western Africa, Adams explores the differences between traditional and modern medical practices, the idea of family, and the accessible health care we take for granted, in this poignant and eye opening documentary of one family’s story.

Rating: 4/5

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