Student cycles across Africa for place at university
STORY: Guinean student Mamadou Safaiou Barry cycled thousands of miles across Africa for a place at the top Islamic university in Cairo.
It all started with a dream to study at Al-Azhar University, one of the world's oldest and most renowned Sunni Muslim learning institutions.
But he was unable to afford a flight to Egypt from Guinea.
So he drew a map of Africa in his notebook and set off on a second-hand mountain bike.
Four months and seven countries later, he is in Cairo with a full scholarship to the elite university.
"If you have a dream, all that you have to do to follow this dream [is] to go on its way, because that's what will help you. Not to say that, 'Today I'm doing this, tomorrow this.' No, you will never see a good road. But if you have a dream, rest on it and be strong on it, if you are on it, God will help you.”
Barry covered approximately 62 miles each day, passing through jungles, deserts and conflict zones.
He pedalled through Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Niger before stalling in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital.
His planned route was disrupted by an ongoing conflict in Sudan.
He said he had already been detained three times - twice in insurgency-plagued Burkina Faso, and once in Togo, where security forces held him for nine days without charge before releasing him in exchange for $56.
He said that was his entire savings for the remainder of the journey.
"I got tired on the bike and I often slept in the bushes, because in the cities I was a little afraid of people. Maybe if I slept in the city some thugs would come and take my bike and hurt me. So I really preferred to spend the night in the bush rather than in the cities."
Barry's luck changed again in Chad after a local philanthropist, who had read online about his journey, offered to fly him directly to Egypt and bypass the fighting in Sudan.
Barry arrived in Cairo on September 5th and days later secured a full scholarship to Al-Azhar.
He intends to return to Guinea when his studies are complete, to spread the faith that has taken him so far.
“I dream after that to be one of the biggest scholars in the world, the biggest Islamic scholar in the world.// And when I return to my country, I would like to be someone who teaches Islam and tells people how to do good things, to teach them."
相關影片推薦
2:01
中國快時尚危機 年丟2600萬噸衣服 合成纖維占7成無法回收Yahoo奇摩(國際通)129,534 次觀看・2 週前9:00
韓國工廠火災:中國朝鮮族女工遇難 家屬淚訴最後訊息BBC NEWS 中文61,961 次觀看・2 週前1:58
鼓山美術館豪宅區淹大水 整片"土黃泥流"損失慘民視影音151,012 次觀看・1 天前1:47
台南新營區"後鎮排水"潰堤 鹽水區淹成汪洋民視影音212,585 次觀看・1 天前1:57
南投竹山26戶別墅地層下陷 53住戶連夜撤離民視影音12,770 次觀看・23 小時前1:58
新北送高雄1146元外送單是真的! 外送員現身東森新聞影音418,630 次觀看・3 天前2:43
只差3秒! 蘇花工程人員逃命畫面曝光 倒車逃險遭埋華視影音99,746 次觀看・1 天前11:02
地震來了怎麼辦?豆腐別再涼拌了,教你新吃法,做法簡單味道足,加上杏鮑菇,香!芭樂媽的家 Qistin Wong TV73,133 次觀看・5 天前1:47
日本芒果好貴!一顆要價近千元 台日價差10倍|#鏡新聞鏡新聞8,424 次觀看・2 週前2:27
凱米來襲!高雄多區淹水一級警戒 高美館豪宅區淹水「影片曝光」民視影音152,727 次觀看・2 天前
熱門必看
13:07
葉全真不愛邀人作客竟是因為這點?唐老師:「好典型的處女座」!Ep.225-2唐綺陽談星室377,071 次觀看・3 週前24:06
霸氣挑戰南部小吃價格 吃到賺到!板橋10樣親民價美食Yahoo創作摩人136,114 次觀看・1 個月前23:55
吃爆三峽老街美食|九間就被擊垮了|最道地金牛角竟是這家?|阿環格格出遊去 Ft.阿環小姐 [送你營養吃]黃君聖Sunny營養師155,357 次觀看・1 個月前21:58
瀕臨破產到全球市值最強!輝達(Nvidia)是怎麼崛起的?買他們股票的都賺翻了?《 時代的巨人》EP 021|志祺七七志祺七七 X 圖文不符202,922 次觀看・1 個月前6:30
台中南屯|百年秘方汕頭火鍋Lee Yi李易42,831 次觀看・1 個月前