Actor Will Smith recently reached out to a Guinean man who cycled nearly 2,500 miles across Africa to reach a university in Egypt. Twenty-five-year-old husband and father Mamadou Safayou Barry previously made headlines for cycling across the continent to pursue a higher education. His destination was Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar University, to which he hoped to be accepted to once he reached the school.
According to BBC, Barry’s four-month journey took him through seven countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger and Chad. The arduous trip required Barry to travel through several dangerous regions occupied by jihadist fighters and affected by political conflict. On three separate occasions he was arrested and detained without reason in Burkina Faso and Togo.
However, the tides changed for Barry in Chad. There, he was interviewed by a journalist, who published and shared the cyclist’s story. Upon reading of Barry’s intrepid journey, a group of individuals decided to help him secure a flight to Egypt. Once Barry arrived at the university, he was welcomed into the school and offered a full scholarship.
Having learned of Barry’s story on Instagram, Smith was “deeply moved” and desired to reach out to the Guinean student. The two men spoke on a video call that was shared on Smith’s YouTube channel.
“This is Will Smith!” said Barry, shocked and excited to be speaking to the actor. “A lot of your films I love.”
“I want the world to hear your story,” Smith told Barry in the video. He gifted Barry with a new bicycle and laptop along with vouchers that can be used either for him to purchase flights back to Guinea to visit his wife and child, or for them to visit him at his university in Cairo.
“When you commit to a journey,” Smith said to Barry during the video call, “the universe conspires to help you.”
“I don’t know how to thank you, wallahi (I swear by God!) I don’t know how to thank you,” Barry said when he found out about the generous and thoughtful gifts.