Dubai: Every kilometre travelled to save a life is as invaluable as the life itself. And when someone travels 60,000km to help children with cancer, there can't be a nobler journey.
To top it off, if that journey is a solo motorbike ride on the treacherous roads of Asia, crossing 22 countries non-stop for 132 days, it becomes even better.
Wissam Al Jayyoussi is embarking on the biggest mission of his life on April 25. Setting off from Dubai to Oman and crossing on a ferry to Iran, he hopes to create awareness about the plight of Palestinian children as well as collect funds for a Paediatric Cancer Centre on the West Bank's Beit Jala.
The 37-year-old IT entrepreneur has been planning the journey for the past year and knows very well from previous experiences that it will be no mean feat.
"I know very well that it will be very difficult to achieve this, but I'm prepared for all the travails and obstacles that I'm going to face. I'm really excited and I would want to meet as many people as I can and tell them about the plight of Palestinian children and raise funds for their welfare," said Al Jayyoussi.
‘Variety of terrain'
Associated with the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) for the last three years, this is not a first trip of its kind for Al Jayyoussi, but certainly the most gruelling.
"I have embarked on adventure missions before to help raise funds and awareness on behalf of PCRF, but this is certainly the biggest of them all, both in terms of the distance travelled as well as the variety of terrain that I will be covering, from the wilderness of deserts to the thickest of jungles, the route is very dangerous," said Al Jayyoussi, whose previous mission was a 40,000km journey from Dubai to London to raise funds for Palestinian women.
Al Jayyoussi, who is an ardent biker, plans to ride for 12 hours daily on his BMW — R1200 GS Adventure bike, which is specially prepared for the trip.
Graciously, Al Jayyoussi is to cover the cost of the journey himself so the donations he receives or the corporate sponsorship his bike gets goes to the children.
"We are targeting to collect Dh1 million and I want every fils to go for the cause. So I will cover the entire cost of the journey including the logistics and food," he said.
Equipped with spare parts, tools, a tent and a few cooking utensils, the burly man aims to cover the mammoth journey accompanied by none but his favourite teddy bear — ‘Beit Jala'.
Companies are welcome to contribute to the noble mission.
