World traveller, Somen Debnath, during the press meet on his mission to promote awareness about HIV/Aids at Indian Cultural Center Doha yesterday. Kammutty VP
BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: He was held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for 24 days, robbed in Central Asia six times and beaten on the road eight times but Indian globe-pedaller Somen Debnath continues his journey around the world on his crusade against HIV/Aids.
“My travel is everyone’s journey,” the Indian said as he related stories of challenges and triumphs he meets in his journey of nearly 100,000km which has brought him to Qatar, his 79th country in his nine years of travel. “Qatar is a beautiful country and Qataris are very friendly, warm and hospitable,” he said when asked at a press conference at the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) yesterday.
Somen arrived in Qatar a week ago and leaves in the middle of the month to resume his journey by bicycle to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman and then to Africa.
He travels at least 40km a day to complete his goal of covering 200,000km in 191 countries and touching the lives of 20 million people by 2020. “Aids is deadlier than cancer” was the headline of an article he read when he was 14 and that inspired him to bike around the world to raise awareness in schools, colleges and universities about the deadly disease. “The article was about a homeless person with HIV/Aids who was abandoned by villagers and left to die alone,” he said.
So after completing degrees in zoology and fine arts, Somen decided to tread a different path he considers his life’s mission.
“I visit schools trying to reach the youth, because the young generation holds the future, so if I’m able to convince them, it would make a big difference in the world,” he explained.
But his journey is not just driven by desire to spread awareness about Aids, but a dream to build a global village back in his country.
To achieve this, he sells every kilometre of his travel for one euro, 60 percent of which, he said, is dedicated to the global village while the remaining 40 percent is used to fund his travel.
The village, which will be open to everyone regardless of religion, beliefs, and status, will encourage creativity and promote unity among people, he said, adding it will comprise 24 homes, an orphanage, school, hospital and rehabilitation centre, among others. In the middle of the global village will be a universal garden which features soil from 191 countries Somen is collecting. The Peninsula
