Residents plan cross-country trek across Qatar to help Syrian children

Two Qatar residents have been gearing up to backpack some 190km (118 miles) across the country to raise funds for children in Syria who have lost their homes due to the ongoing civil war there.

The residents plan to conduct their walk in September, and donate the funds to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon through local charity Reach Out to Asia (ROTA).

Michael Nasr, a 27-year old Egyptian pharmacist, and Mohammed Khallouf, a 30-year-old Syrian businessman, said they have been training for the upcoming walk for two months by trekking dozens of kilometers at a time, despite Qatar’s grueling summer heat.

Speaking to Doha News, Khallouf explained the rationale of the mission: “There are generally two types of donations – donations for a humanitarian cause, where money is solicited using images, facts, or talks that evoke emotion, or sympathy, and fundraising for a challenging activity.

Usually, the latter isn’t likened to charity, but towards supporting people as the try something difficult. We’re trying to bring the two together – we want to challenge ourselves, while raising funds for a good cause. Perhaps, if someone doesn’t have a donor mentality (for a cause), they might donate to the challenge.”

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Residents plan cross-country trek across Qatar to help Syrian children