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The Man Who Lived

By Miranda Dixon-Luinenburg

And Ali Maow Maalin?

He didn’t die.

He made a full recovery within a few months. And he spent much of the rest of his life helping to fight polio. He would go to parents who were afraid of strange people sticking needles in their children, and tell them “I was afraid. I almost died. But this thing you’re about to do is incredibly important.”

He said “Somalia was the last country to be declared smallpox free. I didn’t want it to be the last country declared polio free.”

In 2007, polio was gone from Somalia.

But in 2013, there was another outbreak of polio. And Ali Maow Maalin was one of thousands of volunteers working in Somalia, again. Delivering medicine and supplies. And while he was traveling, he was infected with malaria.

He died later that year.

In 2016, there have been 34 cases of polio. Total. And the world has moved, together, to fight malaria, and it has fallen 60% in the last decade. The work isn’t done and there are still organizations that need funding.

But I’d like us to share one more moment of silence - for Ali Maow Maalin. The man who lived. Who died fighting, to make his world safe.

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