A Muslim man from Newcastle is attempting to complete 100 press-ups every day while fasting for Ramadan, saying it is the “least he can do” to pay his respects to his late “charitable” father.
Asif Saleem, a chartered accountant, aims to complete the challenge to raise funds to build a well in Kenya — the country where his father Mohammed Saleem was from.
Mr Saleem, 36, said he was “humbled” by stories of his “charitable father”, who died from a brain haemorrhage in October 2021.
“He was a massive family man, not just for our family but for our community as well. He would give to charity both locally and nationally,” said Mr Saleem.
“I’ve been humbled with stories of how he helped people in the community both personally and financially.
“He was a charitable guy, so I think that’s part of my inspiration to do the fund-raiser.”
Mr Saleem set up a GoFundMe page, which has raised close to £800 ($988) out of the £1,000 target so far.
He said that taking on the challenge during the holy month made it even more poignant.
“In our culture, we believe that as kids to a deceased person, if we do good deeds and charity, the blessings go towards the deceased,” Mr Saleem said.
“Particularly something that gives perpetuity or something that’s continuing, so the benefit would be that we’re continuously providing [blessings] for my dad.
“Any good deeds or charity that a son or daughter gives will create blessings that go towards the departed.
“It gives them a better opportunity to go to Jannah — [the Islamic] equivalent to heaven, if you like.
“It’s challenging, but thinking about the reason I’m doing it, I do feel like I get that spark of inspiration to keep going.”
Mr Saleem has received lots of support from his family. His daughter Aliza, 3, has also attempted a few press-ups alongside her father.
He added that seeing people making donations has also been touching.
“I’m massively grateful to everyone that’s donated and I’m humbled too,” he said. “It spurs me to keep on going and do as much as I can. It’s really touching.”
The challenge is something that Mr Saleem believes is “the least I can do for my father”, who played an “important part in my life and gave so much to me”.
“Family is hugely important. Just spend as much time as you can with loved ones, because you never know what’s around the corner,” he said.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The flights
The closest international airport to the TMB trail is Geneva (just over an hour’s drive from the French ski town of Chamonix where most people start and end the walk). Direct flights from the UAE to Geneva are available with Etihad and Emirates from about Dh2,790 including taxes.
The trek
The Tour du Mont Blanc takes about 10 to 14 days to complete if walked in its entirety, but by using the services of a tour operator such as Raw Travel, a shorter “highlights” version allows you to complete the best of the route in a week, from Dh6,750 per person. The trails are blocked by snow from about late October to early May. Most people walk in July and August, but be warned that trails are often uncomfortably busy at this time and it can be very hot. The prime months are June and September.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Brief scores
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