Afaff is one of our more recent residents to Wollongong. Afaff and her son arrived in Australia in 2013 as refugees from Iraq via Lebanon.
When Afaff was growing up in Iraq she didn’t get an opportunity to learn to ride a bicycle. Cycle riding was permitted for boys and men but girls were discouraged from riding. In all her dreaming, Afaff never imagined that she would ever get to ride a bicycle in her lifetime.
It wasn’t until Afaff joined the SCARF and the Healthy Cities – Active Connections initiative that Afaff got the opportunity to venture onto a bicycle. The program encouraged women from a wide range of cultural backgrounds to participate in healthy living activities including cycling.
Afaff and the other women began their cycle training on tricycles to gain confidence and balance. Once they mastered tricycles they moved onto bicycles. Here Afaff started to really extend herself and feel the breeze on her face as she rode along the beach side on a bicycle. The freedom she felt riding was even better than driving a car.
Now that Afaff lives in a house with a garage, Afaff hopes to buy a bicycle for her and her son so they can ride together to the beach.
Afaff said: ‘Cycling has provided me with freedom, confidence and physical and mental wellbeing’ and she is so happy that Wollongong and Australia have given her this opportunity.