BARWA BANK EMPLOYEE FIRST PERSON FROM QATAR TO COMPLETE ANTARCTICA MARATHON TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR NOMA

Barwa Bank, Qatar's fastest growing Shari’ah compliant banking service provider, welcomed back Ziyad Rahim, its Head of Market Risk, who returned from participating in the Antarctica Marathon and is the first and only representative from Qatar to ever run a marathon on the planet’s coldest continent. A brilliant trip but a tough race, said Ziyad, who battled over 2,000 ft. of elevation change during the 42K course, 90Km/h katabatic winds, a snowstorm and around minus 18-20c temperature in order to raise awareness for Noma, a gangrenous disease leading to facial tissue destruction. Sponsored by Barwa Bank, he will now go onto run in the 255Km Marathon Des Sables (MDS), meaning that he will take part in two extreme marathons in the space of one month.

Commenting on the challenge Ziyad said, “Completing the Antarctica marathon is extremely satisfying personally, and doing it for such a worthwhile cause is all the more rewarding. The victims of Noma are mainly children under the age of six, caught in a vicious circle of extreme poverty and chronic malnutrition. Doing what I can to draw attention to their great suffering is what pushes me forward and motivates me in the toughest moments”.

Over the past six months, Ziyad has been training extremely hard for these two events, completing more than ten marathons around the world. Ziyad is now preparing to fly out to the hot sand dunes of Sahara Desert to run the MDS in temperatures exceeding 50c held from 6th-16th April.

Steve Troop, CEO, Barwa Bank Group said, “We congratulate Ziyad on this admirable achievement and are cheering him on all the way. Barwa Bank is fully committed to supporting humanitarian causes like this one, and being able to show our support for our fellow colleague at the same time is all the more satisfying. We wish Ziyad all the best for his next challenge, MDS in the Sahara Desert.”

The official charity of MDS is FACING AFRICA which treats patients suffering from Noma in sub-Saharan Africa. Part of the proceeds from the race, as well as monetary support from international donors, allows the organization to fly in medical teams from Europe and America to perform reconstructive surgery on patients.