8-year-old Ali was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a toddler however the condition has not stopped him from being a superhero for other children of determination and an Ambassador of Hope for Al Jalila Foundation.

Ali’s mother heard about Heroes of Hope and the work they do to empower children of determination through sport and encouraged Ali to give it a try. From his first training in October 2020 Ali was hooked. He had been doing various physiotherapy which he found boring but as soon as he got into the gym, he loved it. After meeting Hollie, his coach, he set himself a challenge to show what children like him were capable of.

Ali recently completed a fitness challenge [1km rowing, 40 squats, 30 slam balls, 20 chin-ups and 100m prowler push] in an incredible time of 33 minutes to raise funds for Heroes of Hope in partnership with Al Jalila Foundation.

He loves training, his favourite activities are weightlifting and playing soccer, and he now dreams of becoming an Olympic champion – as a very focused and determined boy, he will surely get there!  Ali’s parents and his brother Omar are his greatest supporters and could not be prouder of him: “Ali’s determination to achieve something big gives him a lot of confidence and makes him proud of himself especially among his school peers. We know he can realise his dream of being in the Paralympics … the fitness challenge is just the beginning.”

9-year-old Noor Afzaal was born into a silent world as she suffered from profound hearing loss, but thanks to receiving a cochlear implant at the age of 6, with the help of Al Jalila Foundation, her communication developed remarkably and today she can hear and talk like other children her age. It is such a joy for her parents to listen as Noor recites the Quran.

The Afzaal family were exploring improved hearing treatments for three of their daughters. They had learned of the cutting-edge cochlear implant which would be a dream come true but, due to financial capabilities, the high cost of the cochlear implant made this option out of reach for the family. Eager to provide their children with the best chance at living a happy, fulfilled life they contacted Al Jalila Foundation with the hope to give their daughters the cochlear implant.

In collaboration with Al Jalila Foundation, a decision was made to first perform a cochlear implantation on the youngest daughter, Noor, as the younger the patient the greater the impact and the sooner positive results would be seen.

Noor showed great progress, so much so, that after leaving kindergarten she enrolled into mainstream school entering Year 1 at the same age and with the same opportunities as other children her age.

Noor’s mother gratefully expressed: “When we got approval for the cochlear implant procedure for our daughters, it was the happiest day of my life! This implant is a priceless gift and has changed our daughters’ lives, and our family’s, forever.”

After seeing the success of Noor’s implant, Al Jalila Foundation also committed to provide the cochlear implant for Noor’s older sisters, Aisha and Rimsha, as both girls were relying on lip reading to communicate. Since the life-changing cochlear implant the girls are all thriving, and their world has been forever changed.

Watch the Afzaal family story of hope here.

Golf is a key driver of charitable giving around the world with large philanthropic contributions, including those from professional tournaments, that make giving to charity a huge part of the sport. Many of the golf clubs in the UAE and globally recognised tournaments have dedicated proceeds to Al Jalila Foundation healthcare programs over the years.

This year, we are delighted to have gained recognition from one of the world’s greatest up and coming young professional golfers, Renato Paratore, who donated GBP 10,000 of his European Tour winnings to our Ta’alouf program to empower children of determination.

We recently welcomed Renato to Al Jalila Foundation to have his name engraved on Bassmat Rashid Bin Saeed donor recognition wall alongside fellow champions of hope. Renato is the first professional golfer to put his name on the first-of-its-kind ‘wall of fame’ leaving his mark on the future of medicine.

Famous sports personalities have been known to make significant charitable contributions and it is inspiring to see the next generation of golf superstars continue in this tradition. Leading by example is truly what it is all about and we wish Renato many more victories on the golf course and look forward to welcoming him to Al Jalila Foundation again.

Learn more about Bassmat Rashid Bin Saeed here.

Al Jalila Foundation is committed to supporting deserving Emirati medical professionals, who pursue education with respected international institutions with the aim to transfer global best practices to the UAE.

Nour Alloghani had graduated from Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and Al Jalila Foundation awarded her a Fellowship in Histopathology Lab (Cancer) at Beaumont Hospital, Ireland.

Through the Fellowship Nour was able to carry out research in oncology with one of the best pathologists in Ireland. The research allowed her to use the theory she had learned in medical school in a practical environment while gaining invaluable skills.

For Nour studying medicine was a dream come true. “I always loved medicine and my passion grew when my father developed a heart condition and I promised myself to do my best as a doctor and give back to the UAE community. Studying abroad was an important experience and I feel privileged to receive the Fellowship and continue my journey though medical school. Living in Ireland changed my skills as a doctor, and I feel confident working with patients from different backgrounds and ethnicities.”

Since completing the Fellowship Nour was invited to publish her research on the Arab Youth Research platform and awarded IP certification from the ministry of economy in the UAE.

10-year-old Hamza was born with a congenital abnormality that affected his limbs. The condition also interfered with his motor skills and hampered his independence as he grew. Throughout Hamza’s life, the only treatment accessible to him to improve his condition was plastic ankle foot orthotics which he was rapidly outgrowing, and they were no longer providing him with sufficient support.

In 2020 Hamza’s doctor identified that he was a good candidate for bilateral lower limb ankle foot orthotics. Eager to give his son greater independence and freedom, Hamza’s father approached Al Jalila Foundation as the cost of the orthotics was beyond his budget. Their greatest wish to see their child become independent and move on his own was becoming a reality.

Hamza’s orthotic fitting was a great success and several months on from the procedure the neutral alignment to his ankles is providing him with controlled range of motion. The right guidance and strengthening from physiotherapy will ensure he does not develop further deformity or weakness affecting his mobility.

“I would like to thank Al Jalila foundation for helping my son become more mobile. Hamza is very happy, and for us as parents there is no greater blessing and relief than knowing that Hamza can live independently in the future.”

Since inception, Al Jalila Foundation has encouraged thousands of motivated individuals and teams to raise funds by taking part in sports challenges. These endurance runs, triathlons, marathons and more have been instrumental to raising awareness and providing hope to patients suffering from chronic illnesses.

One of our greatest athletic Champions of Hope, Wendelin Lauxen, has once again completed the 7 Emirates Run to ‘get children back on their feet’.

In 2010 driven by his passion for running, Wendelin, holder of Guinness World Record for ‘Fastest time to complete a marathon on all 7 continents’, ran 575 kms solo across the UAE in 12 days. A chance meeting in 2013 with a little boy with severe congenital limb deformities and the allure of the UAE’s landscape inspired Wendelin to launch the 7 Emirates Run in partnership with Al Jalila Foundation.

Wendelin has organised the 7 Emirates Run under the slogan “Run for Help, Run for Health, Run for Fun”, and over 7 years has raised an astonishing AED 1.5 million for Al Jalila Foundation, to support life-changing surgery and postoperative medical support for children who suffer from deformities or amputation.

Giving children the gift of mobility is all the reward Wendelin could hope for, however, on completion of his recent solo 7 Emirates Run, he was recognised by the Dubai Sports Council for extraordinary athletic achievements and charitable endeavours.

Through the Ta’alouf Parents Training Program, Al Jalila Foundation works to empower parents to bring out the greatest potential in their children of determination.

Although 2020 was a challenging year and parents training was held virtually, parents like Rola were only too eager to jump on the opportunity to enroll as with her usually very demanding schedule she was able to attend at home.

As a mother of a child of determination, Rola had adapted to life and developed her skills to better care for her son, understand his needs and build on his strengths to bring out his greatest potential. The Ta’alouf program solidified her understanding and put a great deal of attention on many new helpful tools and strategies that she had not yet discovered. Not only that but she now understood completely how and why these tools would benefit both her son and her family.

Rola expressed: “The experience was fun and rich with information for parents, during which I discovered that no matter how different the diagnosis is, there are some things in common between the children of determination. I also benefited from the program by learning the different ways to deal with people with autism spectrum disorders and understanding there are different levels of these disorders”.