Since 2008, UPA has partnered with the Iqraa running club based in Washington, DC to raise funds for the Mahmoud Darwish Scholarship Fund (formerly the University Scholarship Program). Iqraa has trained over 150 runners and has raised over $230,000 for various education projects.

UPA recently spoke with veteran Iqraa runner, Jamylah Baruti Scott, who reflected on her time spent running with her teammates.

She also told us what it means to ” Run for a Brighter Palestine.”

1. Share some of your favorite memories of running with your Iqraa teammates.

We have been together for a long time and it is always a joy to connect and be around them.  We have become a family and they are always so welcoming and encouraging. It is uplifting to gather and galvanize each other, to offer words of encouragement, to see a friendly face, a familiar running t-shirt on the trail. In fact, it reinvigorates your commitment to the journey as you strive to reach the finish line. Even when you are struggling, they make you feel like you are doing great. Our volunteers rock, too, as they donate their time and love for the cause. We always appreciate them on aid stations and on training runs.

Sometimes we get together not to run but to support other running groups. You get to enjoy the perspective of the cheerleader rooting for the runners and see how much the runners appreciate the people who there to support and cheer for them. It’s great running alongside our teammates, but also awesome to be a cheerleader for our runners.

2. UPA has changed the name of their University Scholarship Program to the Mahmoud Darwish Scholarship Fund. How do you feel about the change? UPA changed the name in order to honor Mahmoud Darwish’s legacy in literature and education.

Mahmoud Darwish was a ‘resistance poet’, and a champion for his Palestinian people. I feel it is quite fitting to honor him by renaming the program after him. I feel that we are the resistance too – a charity that fights to build up the young in Palestine where powers ‘stronger’ than they are, are tearing it down. As runners, we run to raise money and raise awareness for Palestinians to show them that we have not forgotten about their plight. It’s quite fitting!

3. How do you describe UPA to your audience and to new audiences?

I explain that Iqraa partnered with UPA in 2008, an NGO certified by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) charity to ensure that accountability of donated funds is maintained. UPA implements the education programs for which Iqraa runners raise funds.

4. Out of all the races you’ve done, which one is your favorite or most memorable?

My favorite was my very first marathon in 2009. It was a HUGE deal. I experienced a surreal sense of accomplishment after months of training. It hurt so good! It was a time in my life when I was going through personal challenges and I found solace on the running trail. Getting connected with Iqraa just took it a notch higher by channeling my energy into helping other people by doing what I already enjoyed doing – running – and sharing my experiences with people who responded with donations. It felt great to help other people improve their own situation even if I did not know them. Inadvertently, it helped me and keeps doing so now, 9 years later.