I'm Mavis Dogbey, a 23 year old lady. The first daughter of Mr and Mrs Dogbey. My nuclear family is made up of 7 members which I'm the first born with 5 more siblings. My real story started when I began school. We resided far from school and electricity in the rural back country. We walked a very long distance everyday to school.

I joined Ghana Cycling Program in 2017 when I was 17 years old. I was a novice but I trained and became their female warrior. We learned to repair our bicycle whenever we had a flat tyre. I took part in every race being held on the grass track. I had 8 gold medals, 4 silvers and 2 bronze medals as rewards for winning races. Sometimes I lead my team for a road biking and site seeing on holidays. I really loved cycling, but things didn't work out. I got pregnant when I was 20 years old. I kept riding my bike at races. Even with a 4 months pregnancy, I raced and placed 3rd.

The team coach stopped talking to me with the intention that I'll lead the other ladies astray. I quit cycling since she doesn't want to see me. My baby’s father also denied the pregnancy because I refused to abort the baby as he suggested. So I became so confused that I wanted to take my life. But with the encouraging words and support from my parents, I stayed in school with the pregnancy. When my delivery time is up, I came home and gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. After a safe delivery, my mom took the boy and ordered me to go back to school and finish it.

I did a lot of work preparing and cooking food to sell in the market. I needed to make some money to support my baby and my mother and father. I still needed to go to classes and pay for my books and tuition. One day I was talking to one of the other women who had ridden bicycle tours around Ghana with PAC Tour. She said I should explain my goals and dreams to be a cyclists and contact Mr. Lon Haldeman. I contacted Lon and he was able to help me get a laptop computer to help with my studies. I went back to school, pursuing Bachelor of arts in Ewe (Ghana’s official language) with more English Education. Per the system and structure of the course, I'll end up in the classroom... A teacher to be precise.

My child is now 3 and half years old being nurtured by my mom while I am attending my classes. My dream has always been to be a peace maker. I'm glad I'll be of great impact to my students... especially girls. I'm grateful to PAC Tour for their unwavering support. I know I'll also be a blessing to someone.