The Eels' Mannah from heaven
October 16, 2009 11:00pm
TIM Mannah was in the moment he saw the documentary.
"Yeah, when Nathan Hindmarsh came back from Rwanda last year I asked him a heap of different questions, wanting to know what they'd done,'' the Parramatta prop says.
"And then a few weeks later when the documentary they made aired on Fox, mate, that was it for me.
"Ossie [Paul Osborne] wasn't even our CEO at that stage but I still gave him a call and said, 'If you're going to go overseas again next year and there's any chance I can be involved, mate, count me in'.''
One year on and Mannah is now among five Eels heading to Africa as part of the Hope: Rwanda tour. Departing Sydney international airport on Monday morning, the group also includes Justin Poore, Joel Reddy, Joe Galuvao, Matt Keating and Osborne.
"A couple of years ago I did a similar thing with some people from my church - we visited an island off Vanuau,'' Mannah continues. "It's only then that you realise how much in life we take for granted and how rewarding it can be to get involved with something like this.
"I mean, you don't go over there thinking you're going to change the whole country. But if you can make a difference with one life, a couple of lives, well, that makes everything worth it.''
While a deserved Kangaroo recall means Hindy won't be going this time around, his family will still be represented with partner Bonnie, who works in the Eels PR department, part of the touring party that will build houses for widows and orphans of the 1994 genocide.
