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After meeting with Dr Ahmed Samy in Maadi, I met with Mennatollah Gamal, a 24-year-old woman from Helwan, a suburb at the south of Cairo.
Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2015, Mennatollah’s treatment initially consisted of daily injections of insulin, combined with the intake of tablets with her meals. Mennatollah was also advised by her doctor to change her diet and to exercice on a regular basis. She followed the advice and changed her life pattern.
She first tried indoor team sports like volleyball and basketball, but quickly understood that team sports were not for her. However, she immediately knew, when she was introduced to cycling, that that was the sport she wanted to practice.
The cycling scene in Cairo is rather limited. So much so, that bicycle shops are concentrated on a single street. Yet, the strong solidarity between cyclists makes up for the modest size of the community. This is how Menna, as she likes to be called, integrated into a group of cyclist who goes touring in different parts of the country once a month. She was given cycling clothes by one of the bicycle shops and offered a bicycle at a discount price, so that she could be part of the group. The main difficulty was obtaining a female bike.
Yet as a young muslim woman evolving in a traditional social environment, Menna had to receive permission from her family before she was allowed to cycle. She started by Continue reading “Interview #3 – Mennatollah Gamal – The Egyptian Girl on a Bike”