Guinean student bikes 2,500 miles across Africa to study at top university

Mamadou Safaiou Barry won a full scholarship to Al-Azhar University in Cairo to study Islamic theology. Photo: FATMA FAHMY/REUTERS

The determined would-be student biked 2,500 miles across Africa through jungles and war zones to secure a place at a prestigious university.

Mamadou Safaiu Barry intended to study Islamic theology at Cairo's Al University -Azhar, a world famous university. renowned training center, but couldn't afford a plane ticket from his home in Guinea to Egypt.

Instead, he drew a map of Africa in a notebook and set off on a second-hand mountain bike. , reported Reuters.

Carrying only a change of clothes, a flashlight and a screwdriver, the 25-year-old traveled through jungles, deserts and war zones in the hope of landing a position and finding a way to finance it.

His persistence and determination have now been rewarded with a full scholarship to Al-Azhar University, one of the oldest and most renowned Sunni Muslim educational institutions in the world.

“If you have a dream, stay with it and be strong, » he said. «God help you.»

Mr Barry set off on a used mountain bike, riding about 60 miles every day

Mr Barry traveled about 60 miles each day through Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Niger before he was detained in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, due to the conflict in Sudan.

He was detained three times: twice to Burkina Faso and once to Togo, where security forces held him for nine days without charge before releasing him in exchange for £46.

This was all his savings for the rest of the year of the year. journey, he said.

«I often slept in the bushes because I was afraid of people in cities,» Mr Barry said. «I thought they were going to take my bike and hurt me.»

Mr Barry said studying Islamic theology was his dream. and hopes to spread the faith upon his return to Guinea. Photo: FATMA FAHMY/REUTERS

He got lucky in Chad when a local philanthropist heard his story and took him straight to Egypt, bypassing Sudan.

Mr Barry arrived in Cairo on 5 September.

A photo circulated widely on social media shows him meeting with a beaming university official just days later.

Mr. Barry with Dr. Nahla Elseidi, Advisor for Foreigners at Al-Azhar University

He intends to return to Guinea when his studies are completed to spread the faith that has taken him so far.

“When I return to my country, I would like to be the one who teaches Islam and tells people how to do good deeds,” he said.