Leaving his home in Guinea-Conakry on a bike, Mamadou Safayou Barry traveled across the whole of West Africa and the Sahara Desert’s road network—2,500 miles—and across 5 countries in the mere hopes he’d be accepted into an Egyptian university.
Along the way, the husband and father of one crossed Benin, southern Mali, Togo, Chad, Burkina Faso, Niger, etc.He was detained without cause or charge on three separate occasions, twice in Burkina Faso and once in Togo. It was in Chad, nearly four months after he left home, that he caught an auspicious wind. A local journalist reported on his efforts which led to a local philanthropist getting the man a flight to Cairo.Once there, the prestigious Al-Azhar University offered him a full scholarship, first for Islamic studies, then for engineering.Furthermore, Hollywood megastar Will Smith heard about Barry’s successful voyage, and gave a surprise congratulations to the man.A western news outlet reported on Barry’s ride in September, which is how Smith heard about it. He video-called the Guinean in Cairo to gift him a new bicycle and a laptop for his studies. “When I saw him, I was confused in my head, because I had seen that man before,” Barry told the BBC from Cairo. “Then I remember—it’s Will Smith! Wow… I used to watch his films. I was sat on a chair in front of Will Smith!”Source: Face2FaceAfrica
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