Youth Olympics: Rwandan teenagers cycling out of poverty

“The first time I cycled I fell off so many times and swore never to go back on a bike. But I thought about it and I thought that in life you get difficulties but then you get up again and continue doing something because you love it. So that’s what happened to me, I got back on the bike and now see where I am.

“The first day I told my parents that I really liked the cycling, it was difficult. But I also told them that when I continue cycling, it will get me to a better life.”

Uwamariya has been able to buy cows and is now looking to build a house with the money she has earned from bike competitions. Things that would have been out of her reach before.

Equally importantly, more so perhaps, it has enabled her to attend school and finish her education.

“It used to take me two hours to walk from home to school but now with a bicycle I can ride in one hour. I get to school on time and it means so much to me because it shows me the future is bright and that I can do anything because I have a bike. There are so many people, girls and boys, from my home town who don’t go to school because it’s very far away.”

Uwamariya and her team-mate are unlikely to win a medal at the Youth Olympics. For them, the fact they have made it to the start line is achievement enough. Their coach says the goal is for them to finish the road race within the allotted time.

But one thing you quickly learn from spending time with these two schoolgirls is that they aim high. As with the generation of women before them, they have big goals and want to reach new heights.

Success, according to Uwamariya, will be nothing less than a podium finish: “I am not scared of anything ahead of the Youth Olympic Games. I believe I am going to use all the effort that I used [at the 2014 African Youth Games] in Botswana and more.

“Because I did not get a medal in Botswana, I am going to get it at the Youth Olympic Games. The only thing I will look at as success is if I come back with a medal.”

Benitha was speaking to Caroline Rigby for “Sportsworld” on the BBC World Service. Caroline’s full report on how the bicycle is helping to provide new hope to a generation of girls in Rwanda is available to download., external