{"id":3551,"date":"2026-09-01T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanad.webbingstone.org\/success-stories\/alaa\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T22:13:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T22:13:42","slug":"alaa","status":"publish","type":"success-stories","link":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/success-stories\/alaa\/","title":{"rendered":"Alaa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

#an_iron_man<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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I didn\u2019t care what anyone said. For me, it was fuel that drove me forward.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

#Alaa_Atef<\/strong>
Alaa\u2019s passion for sports altered his character; he now doesn\u2019t fear confrontation. He manages his time between studying Tourism and Hospitality, cooking (his hobby), and practicing running, swimming, and bike riding; his absolute favorite sport. People didn\u2019t expect much from him, they would exclaim \u201cAlaa! Becoming a swimmer!?\u201d Now, he\u2019s a triathlon champion with 6 winning medals. Even fasting during Ramadan doesn\u2019t stop him, he fills the month with daily practice and challenges. Alaa\u2019s eyes shine when he talks about bike riding. Before being a sportive man, he suffered from several psychological issues. His getaway was sleep. Amo Hossam, a caregiver in Alaa\u2019s care home, gave him advice, to change his lifestyle and work on his own development. Amo Hossam was so dear to Alaa, all his guidance came from the heart, which led Alaa to depression when he passed away. Three months later, he decided that it\u2019s time for him to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve been obsessed with bicycles ever since I was a kid. I once got one as a gift, but they took it back. Because I was literally crazy about it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He went back to bike riding, his old childhood passion. Then Sanad showed up on his path, to teach him new things and support his dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t much of a talker, some problems in the past made me a quiet introvert. I feared people\u2019s judgments whenever I talked.\u201d \u2026 That\u2019s how Alaa describes himself before 2021, before joining Mobader (The Initiator); a community leadership program organized by Sanad. He learnt the concept of leadership and the traits of a true leader. He was also able to improve his skills as a speaker. Through the program, Alaa and his team designed an awareness campaign addressing psychological and mental health, which they considered to be a neglected element in alternative care institutions. Their campaign \u201cA Break for the Mind\u201d aimed to study the seven dimensions of mental health, and to empower their target audience through practical knowledge. That was applied through lectures, research, and open circles for discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaa participated in Sanad\u2019s Storytelling Program, where he developed his skills in expressing himself and listening, he even became aware of concepts that he realized were important to tackle and identify \u2026 \u201cThe most precious lesson I learnt was how to know if people really want to listen. I know it now from their body language. I learnt to tell my story without the intention of showing off. I learnt the elements of storytelling, and how to keep a flow.\u201d Alaa describes that experience as amazing, as he got to form friendships and challenge his communication skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I knew Sanad, then I realized that there is still so much to learn.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, he joined Sanad\u2019s Youth Forum, Alaa describes the forum and says \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to share experiences and challenges, so we pave the road for each other. We also know more about our cause and what needs to be tackled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanad supported Alaa on his path as a sportsman through connecting him to EGYMED, a company in the healthcare sector that launched Sehetna (Our health), an initiative providing health services. Sehetna\u2019s team helped Alaa register into competitions and commit to his swimming training especially. He was then qualified to participate in the IRONMAN Marathon, Madinaty Marathon, Al-Alamein competition, and Badya Super Cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I started writing about the concept of \u201cRespect\u201d, I realized that there are several types of Respect, Self-respect for example. Then, I found out that there are different types of the \u201cSelf\u201d. I\u2019m working on simplifying these concepts to help us understand what we\u2019ve been through.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Through these challenges, he won a total of three medals. Alaa\u2019s future plan isn\u2019t limited to himself, he wants to keep supporting his cause too. He talks about one of his ideas which is a small publication simplifying important principles and concepts, such as: Respect and Abuse. He says \u201cIt\u2019s important to understand the meaning of Abuse, its forms, and how to avoid it, in order to understand ourselves and others, and for one to know when they\u2019re being abused, most of us don\u2019t even know it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaa wishes to be an IRONMAN champion, and to open a healthy food restaurant for athletes after graduation. He is also considering becoming independent, he knows that it\u2019s a challenge and a step that needs preparation, but he\u2019s feeling hopeful about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#athlete #determined #passion_to_communicate<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3587,"template":"","class_list":["post-3551","success-stories","type-success-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/success-stories\/3551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/success-stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/success-stories"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/success-stories\/3551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanadorphans.org\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}