Every morning, 70-year-old Aziza el-Wartani rides five kilometers on her bike to sell milk and vegetables in the city of Jendouba.

Despite her bent back and thin body, the el-Wartani is still holding up in face of the harsh life in one of the most marginalized and poorest governorates in Tunisia, and diligently earning her livelihood.

She pulls a blue box full of milk from her single cow, as well as parsley and vegetables she picks to sell and earn a few dinars for her expenses.

Every morning, 70-year-old Aziza el-Wartani rides five kilometers on her bike to sell milk and vegetables in the city of Jendouba.

Despite her bent back and thin body, the el-Wartani is still holding up in face of the harsh life in one of the most marginalized and poorest governorates in Tunisia, and diligently earning her livelihood.

She pulls a blue box full of milk from her single cow, as well as parsley and vegetables she picks to sell and earn a few dinars for her expenses.

But she was not always a poor subsistence farmer, she was once a gifted runner who defeated the fiercest rivals in countryside running competitions and she has dozens of gold medals to show for it.

“I was gifted from God. My mother taught me how to run in the mountains and plains and I never thought she was making a champion runner out of me.”

In several competitions in Tunisia and Algeria, Aziza defeated competitors who had even tried to beat her by cheating.

She recalled how a guard assistant riding a motorcycle, tried to prevent her from passing a competitor on a rainy day at the foot of Jebel ech Chambi, but vigor and perseverance prevented her from giving in.

While her youth was full of enthusiasm, courage and victory, Aziza had a bitter life after she was forced to marry her unemployed cousin.

Her life turned into hell because of the difference between her open vision and her husband’s conservative vision. After the birth of her daughter Mawaheb, he prevented her from participating in running competitions and even treated her violently, she said.

“I tried to be a compassionate mother and successful athlete at the same time, but my husband only allowed me only to work at a youth house. My relationship with him lasted only for five years, during which time I gave birth to two daughters.”

Since her husband was unemployed, Aziza, who managed to ride a bike in a conservative community, supported her two young daughters and taught them about sports, patience and perseverance.

Her oldest daughter, Mawaheb, currently works as a sports teacher at a middle school in Bousalem, the governorate of Jendouba (northwest). Her younger daughter, Suhair, graduated from university and is also a teacher.

Thanks to her insistence on riding a bicycle in a region where it is limited to men, Aziza was able to break the rules and raise her daughters without help from anyone.