Abdul Sattar Edhi - A Gift to Pakistan !!

Love, compassion, service to humanity, devotion, sincerity, humbleness, inspiration & devotion are all different names for on man on earth, we proudly present to the world as a gift, known as Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Edhi is a well known name to the world of service and humanity. Edhi is for Karachi what Mother Teresa is to Calcutta. But more than that Edhi is an angel on earth not only for Karachi & Pakistan but to the whole world. From Karachi to all over Pakistan. From Azad Kashmir to Tsunami & from Lebanon to Katrina this one man with a primary-school education has almost single-handedly created one of the largest and most successful health and welfare networks in Asia. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, as of 1997, Edhi Foundation operates the world’s largest volunteer ambulance service.

Edhi is our No.1 & the best gift to the world. He has done more then a Nobel Prize would mean. For more than half a century, Abdul Sattar Edhi, has been living proof that a determined individual can mobilize others to alleviate misery and, in so doing, knit together the social fabric of a nation. He is truly a role model to follow and a great hero of our time. Our curriculum books definitely need a chapter on him at least. He is the best thing probably that happened to Pakistan in last 59 years of our history.

Born in 1928 in Bantwa, Gujarat, India, Edhi’s family belonged to the industrious Memon community. From a young age his mother taught Edhi to be kind towards others and to help the poor. In 1947 the family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. That was a time of great emotional trauma and social and political upheaval. Edhi became involved in social work and began working with welfare organizations and soon started his own dispensary, providing medical aid to the poor. He bought his first ambulance, an old van which he called the “poor man’s van” and went around the city providing medical help and burying unclaimed bodies. His van became his advertisement and soon he came to be known for his work with the poor. As a consequence, donations started pouring in and his operations expanded, employing additional nurses and staff.

The lion’s share of the Edhi Foundation’s $10-million budget comes from private donations from individual Pakistanis inside and outside the country. Some donors have been very generous. One family donated two villas in the wealthy Karachi suburb of Clifton for use as a residence and school for around 250 girls. A Pakistani expatriate in the UK donated office buildings worth ¬£1.4 million ($2.5 million) that became the British headquarters of the foundation, which organizes local charity services both for expatriates and in support of the foundation’s work in Pakistan. In addition to money and property, contributors donate clothes, appliances, furniture-even goat and chicken meat, sometimes by the ton. The organization uses a portion of these gifts to feed and clothe residents of the homes; the rest is given away to other hospitals, prisons and disaster victims.

( Image credit : EF )

Whether he is counseling a battered wife, rescuing an accident victim, feeding a poor child, sheltering a homeless family or washing an unidentified and unclaimed corpse before burial, Edhi and Bilquis, his wife of 38 years, help thousands of Pakistanis each day. Contactpakistan summarizes Edhi well: “Edhi is a mobile institution ready to respond … anxious to comfort and console the anguished souls. Endurance, perseverance, patience, struggle, sympathy and compassion along with sacrifice of his personal comforts, are the important elements on which rests the philosophy of Abdul Sattar Edhi.“