A student rode a bike for 4,000km (2,500 miles) through West Africa, even though he was arrested and had to endure extremely hot weather. He did all of this because he wanted to get into his dream university.
Mamadou Safayou Barry started his journey from Guinea to Egypt’s well-known Al-Azhar in May, in the hopes of being accepted.
The 25-year-old rode a bicycle for four months through countries that were greatly affected by Islamist militants and coups.
He said to the BBC that he was extremely pleased to have received a scholarship once he arrived in Cairo.
The man, who is married and has one child, said that even though he couldn’t afford the Islamic Studies course at Al-Azhar or the flights to Egypt, he decided to take a risk and travel through Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger, and Chad because he was inspired by the university’s good reputation.
Al-Azhar is a very important place for Sunni Muslims to learn about Islam. It is also one of the earliest, being established in the year AD670.
Mr Barry left his home to find out more about Islam, but he faced doubt and difficult situations in some of the countries he traveled through.
In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, there are often attacks by terrorists on innocent people, and recent government takeovers have made the situation politically unstable.
“It is difficult to travel through these countries because they currently lack security,” he explained.
There are many problems in Mali and Burkina Faso, and the people there are very scared. In these places, people were looking at me like I am a bad man. “I saw lots of soldiers with their large weapons and vehicles,” Mr. Barry explained
He said that he was taken by the police three times without any valid reason – two times in Burkina Faso and one time in Togo.
However, Mr Barry’s luck changed when he got to Chad. A reporter talked to Mr. Barry and shared his story on the internet. This led kindhearted people to donate money for him to go on a trip to Egypt.
This means he didn’t ride his bicycle through Sudan because some areas there are currently in war.
He made it to Cairo on 5 September. His strong passion helped him get a chance to meet with the head of Islamic studies, Dr Nahla Elseidy. After talking to Mr. Elseidy gave him the opportunity to join Al-Azhar University’s Islamic Studies program. He also provided a full scholarship for Mr.
The dean posted on her social media accounts that the university wants to share its knowledge with students all over the world. This includes not only students from other countries studying in Egypt but also students studying outside of Egypt. Al-Azhar accepts students from every country, looks after them, and provides them with financial aid.
Mr Barry said he was “extremely happy” to have received the scholarship.
I was so happy, but I can’t explain to you how much. “I said thank you to God,” he explained.
Mr Barry said that he has forgotten about the difficult times during his expedition because he is now very happy to be able to call himself an al-Azhar scholar.