Stranded in Tripura, Spanish woman cyclist joins charity work

AGARTALA: A Spanish cyclist, along with three of her cyclist friends from Kerala who had been stuck in Tripura due to the lockdown, have joined hands with the Missionaries of Charity here to help in making masks and distribution of relief.
Yesenia Herrera Febles, who is in her mid-30s, was stopped at the Tripura-Mizoram border on March 16 when she was on her way to Myanmar. She had cycled for three days to reach the Mizoram border but police did not allow her to advance any further due to the Covid pandemic.She was forced to return to Agartala in an ambulance, along with her cycle, and made to go on a 14-day quarantine.
Yesenia, a nurse from Canary Islands, has been travelling on her bicycle for the past two years, and has covered 18 countries, including 18 in Asia and Europe. She had entered Tripura from Bangladesh through the Akhaura Integrated Checkpost on March 9.
She met three cyclists from Kerala — Clifin Francis, Dona Ana Jacob, and Haseeb Ahsan — at the quarantine centre, who were on their way to attend the Tokyo Olympics via Myanmar.
The cyclists did not want to stay in government facilities and with a local contact met Paul Pudussery, a father of Asha Holycross in Agartala. All of them were given free food and accommodation and they joined hand in missionary activities.
Paul has been actively working with the underprivileged people in Tripura for 27 years and has lost one of his eyes in a militant attack in the ’90s while he was serving poor tribals. With the spread of Covid-19, Paul brought a huge consignment of clothes and stitching equipment from Kolkata and mobilised locals in mask-making activities. Since the last week of March, Asha Holycross has already distributed more than 20,000 masks free of cost in the interior villagers in the state. They have also been involved in distribution of free foodgrains and groceries, said Devid Debbarma, a social worker.
“Neither, Yesenia nor any of us knew stitching or cooking. But in these few days, we have learnt many activities, including stitching and making chapattis. Also, we are motivated to serve society,” said Dona, a software engineer.
Dona and two of her friends are professionals in multinational brands but they left the job to join the Tokyo Olympics on cycle. Meanwhile, Yesenia has confirmed her return ticket from Agartala to Delhi by a special train on May 25. She is scheduled to board an Air India evacuation flight on May 30 to Madrid.