Photo: Caitlin Kelly/Guardian
Streaming through the green fields of Sierra Leone’s Bombali district, 26 year old Mariama Timbo is the sole female motorcyclist ferrying people and goods to Makeni, one of Sierra Leone’s fastest growing cities. While the locally known okadas are often the only affordable way to reach markets, hospitals and cities, most of the riders are men. Since 2022, when eWomen Sierra Leone, a local NGO that supports business initiatives for women, helped Timbo get funding for a motorbike via a World Bank grant, she makes the 45-minute journey between Makeni and the isolated Kagbere twice a day, mostly to the market. Now, with a grant from UNFPA, she is helping the newly formed Bombali Bike Ladies learn how to ride.
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