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Meet Ala Baydoun who Runs to Raise Awareness for Polio Eradication

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Reshma
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My days begins on Instagram and ends on Instagram like any other teen. While I’m told not to be addicted to the phone, I do have my defence in place. ‘We learn and acquire so much knowledge’. 25th January was one such day where the educative and knowledge imparting function of the app came to my rescue to testify my defence. Scrolling through the stories, the World Health Organization’s story made me re-read it. That’s when I got introduced to Ala Baydoun.

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Ala Baydoun, who works at WHO runs through the Jordanian desert in the Rum International Marathon and has dedicated her run to raise awareness for polio eradication.

As reported on the WHO website, Ala was preparing for a run at around 6 am on 22nd January 2018. She was to run from Petra, one of Jordan’s ancient southern cities. Ala will run for 100km to Wadi Rum in an Ultra Marathon, an effort to outrun polio.

The run was no ordinary. She faced with the high altitude and the 8 km of hilly terrain immediately ahead of her start. After a taxing 14-hour run, through the desert, Ala crossed the finish line in second place. She cuts more than 2 hours off her personal best time. “I was injured and wasn’t sure I would finish the race, but I beat my time from last race! As runners we are so cautious of seconds, so to say that I cut 2 hours off is a big deal", says Ala to WHO.  Dedicating the run to ‘end polio’ was important to her as she was a fellow worker at WHO.

“We haven’t seen polio in Jordan now for many years, but it remains a risk because it continues to circulate in countries in the Region. I work with a team of people who are very dedicated to finally ending polio around the world, and I know we are so close. This was a way that I could continue to raise awareness around this cause,” she says.

Ala Baydoun, a born runner runs every day anywhere between 10 and 15 kilometres in Amman. On a Friday she usually runs between 30 and 35 km outside the city.

She also mentions how she has been a runner since the age of 12. Her inspiration has been her runner father. She mentioned that earlier she could not run more than three kilometres but has never given up. “You have to motivate yourself, because you’re in the middle of nowhere, often alone. One negative thought in that environment can really derail you. And you’re not only thinking about keeping motivated and positive, you’ve also got other things to be thinking about…like there are stray dogs in the desert and running in the sand requires so much more effort,” she says.

Ala also said that when one has a strong will and running with a purpose and for a purpose, that’s what will get one over the finish line.

“I don’t want to see more kids paralysed by this disease in my lifetime, so I ran for polio, hoping with every step that we see an end to it very soon.”

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Inspiring, isn’t it? Let’s take actions that can secure a better future for the coming generations. Let’s fight with a purpose and eradicate evils that are claiming human lives.

 Also Read : Himachal’s Woman Health Worker Makes It to WHO Calendar 2018

Reshma is an intern with SheThepeople.TV

World Health Organisation #PolioEradication Ala Baydoun Ultra Marathon
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