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Abdul Sattar Edhi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abdul Sattar Edhi, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, (Urdu: عبد الستار ایدھی), or Edhi, as he is often known, is one of the most active philanthropists in Pakistan. He is head of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan. Edhi foundation branches are spread all over world. His wife Begum Bilquis Edhi, heads the Bilquis Edhi Foundation. They both received 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. He is also the recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize. Maulana Edhi, as he is often referred to, is of the Memon community. According to the Guinness World Records, Edhi Foundation has the largest private ambulance service network in the world.
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Edhi was born in 1928 in Bantva in the Gujarat state of present day India. His father was a textile trader and earned a modest income for his family. He was a natural born leader and would encourage his friends to hold tiny circuses and perform gymnastics for the locals. When his mother would send him to school she would give him two paisa, one to spend for himself and the other to spend for another. At the age of eleven he started to take care of his mother who suffered paralysis from severe diabetes. From an early age Edhi learned to help others before himself - this would be crucial to success in his life later on.
'In 1947 his family migrated to Karachi, Pakistan after the Partition of India. In 1951, he start his own textile business. He also encouraged his friends to give literacy classes there. Edhi had spent his life a simple man, and would continue to do so. He slept on a concrete bench outside the dispensary so that he was available to help people at any time.
In 1957 a major flu epidemic swept Karachi, Edhi was quick to react, he set up tents on the outskirts of the city to distribute free immunizations. Grateful residents donated generously to Edhi and so did the rest of Pakistan after hearing of his deeds. With all the donation money he bought the rest of the building his dispensary was located in, and opened a free maternity centre and nursing school, and so Edhi Foundation was born.
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In the years that followed, Edhi Foundation grew through all of Pakistan. After the flu epidemic, a businessman donated a large sum to Edhi and with the money he purchased an ambulance vehicle which he drove himself. Today the Foundation has over 600 ambulances located all over the country. He himself continues to travel with call outs out of Karachi to the rest of the Sindh province. The response time and services the ambulances provide are unparalleled in all of Pakistan, being the first to reach the 2005 earthquake disaster in northern Pakistan and Kashmir.
Today, not just in Pakistan nor in just the Muslim world, Abdul Sattar Edhi has earned a reputation as being one of the most selfless and honorable human beings today with a legacy decorated with many international honors and awards. Despite his fame and reputation, he continues to lead a simple life wearing the traditional Pakistani Shalwar Kameez, of which he owns only one or two, and one pair of slippers, which he has been thought to have worn for the last twenty years. This is despite the fact the Edhi Foundation has a $10 million budget, out of which he takes nothing for himself. His son Faisal once stated that when the Foundation was setting up in Afghanistan, local staff had purchased chairs for guests and the press when a new center was being opened. Upon his arrival, Edhi was furious because the money that was spent on the chairs could have been used to help people. That same night, he slept on the clinic floor with the rest of the ambulance drivers.
Today, Edhi Foundation continues to grow. Dr Edhi, looking to the future, has stated that he aims to build a hospital every 500 km in Pakistan. Although he is given the title Maulana out of respect, he himself dislikes the title as he has never been to a religious school and he is not an Islamic cleric. He prefers being called 'Doctor' as he has received an honorary doctorate from The Institute of Business Administration in Pakistan for services to humanity.[1] He is also famous for being very shy about his popularity and when people personally praise him for his work. He also refuses to accept donations from governments or formal religious organisations, because according to him they set 'conditions'. Both General Zia-ul-Haq and the Italian government sent him generous donations, which he sent back.
In 1996 his autobiography, A Mirror to the Blind was published.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, as of 1997, Edhi Foundation's ambulance service is the largest volunteer ambulance service in the world.[2] He also personally holds the world record for having gone the longest time working without having taken a holiday. As of when the record was set, he has still not taken a single day off work.
International awards
- 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service
- 1988 Lenin Peace Prize
- 1992 Paul Harris Fellow Rotary International Foundation
- In 2000, Edhi was awarded the International Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood.
- On 26 March 2005, Edhi was presented with the Life Time Achievement Award by the World Memon Organisation (WMO).
- On 11 November 2006, Edhi was presented with an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Institute of Business Administration Karachi (IBA).[3]
National awards
- Nishan-e-Imtiaz from Government of Pakistan 1989.
- Human Rights Award by Pakistan Human Rights Society.
- Khidmat Award by Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences.
- Shield of Honour by Pakistan Army (E & C).
- Silver Jubilee Shield by College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan.(1962-1987)
- Recognition of meritorious services to oppressed humanity during the eighties (1989) by Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Government of Pakistan. 45 Years Of Selfless Service.
- The Social Worker of Sub-Continent - 1989 by Government of Sind
- Pakistan Civic Award 1992 - by Pakistan Civic Society.
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/2005/10/27/local9.htm
- ^ http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com Guinness Book of World records on Abdul Sattar Edhi
- ^ http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/12/local1.htm