Anushiya’s grandfather owns a small restaurant where he serves fishermen at the seaside. He still uses the bike he received after the Indian Ocean tsunami from World Bicycle Relief to run his business. Anushiya was not allowed to use this bike–only her father rode it.

When Anushiya was eleven years old, she remembers the day she received her own bike from World Bicycle Relief and the joy of racing home with her friends Rakupathy and Krishanthini from school. She is grateful for her own bicycle provided by WBR, knowing that otherwise she would not have had one. Besides the fun she had riding with her friends, the bicycle helped Anushiya finish high school.

Today, at 19 years old, she is excited about taking vocational training along with her friend Thihu to become a counselor at the YMCA. Anushiya says, It was with my friends together that we got through the tsunami times. I want to be able to help other young girls when they face troubles too.

Pictured above: Rakupathy, Theepika, Anushiya, Dilshani & Kiristhanthini

Photos: Leah Missbach Day, Mike Weyerhaeuser