Daily Times

KARACHI: The second anniversary of renowned philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi was observed on Sunday.

Abdul Sattar Edhi was the founder of Edhi foundation, a non-profit social welfare program in Pakistan. Edhi foundation runs an extensive network of homeless shelters, orphanages, rehab centres and animal shelters across the country. The Edhi foundation grew famous for running the largest volunteer ambulance network in the world.

Edhi, who was born in 1928, migrated to Pakistan in 1947 along with his family and dedicated his life to the poor from the age of 20, when he himself was penniless in Karachi. In 1951, Edhi started a free dispensery under the Edhi Foundation. What started off as a free dispensary in 1951, went on to become the largest charity organisation in Pakistan.

In his own words, Edhi “begged for donations” at the start of his work and “people gave”.Edhi began with a single ambulance which he drove himself. Now the Edhi Foundation has 2,400 ambulances and three air ambulances stationed across the country. In 1997 the Edhi Foundation entered the Guinness World Records as the “largest volunteer ambulance organisation”.

The Edhi foundation also runs more than 300 welfare centres across the country that operate as food kitchens, rehabilitation homes, shelters for abandoned women and children and clinics for the mentally handicapped. The Edhi Foundation also runs eight outpatient hospitals, a child adoption centre and several morgues.

Edhi received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service in 1986 and was honored with the Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1989. Edhi was also recognized both nationally and internationally for his selfless services in the cause of humanity.

In 2006, Institute of Business Administration Pakistan (IBA) conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Social Service Management for his services. In September 2010, Edhi was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bedfordshire.

In 2013, doctors told Edhi that his kidneys had failed and he would survive using dialysis for the rest of his life unless he found a donor. Edhi passed away on July 8, 2016 in Karachi after a protracted illness.

On the second death anniversary of Abdul Sattar Edhi, several humanitarian organizations and notable philanthropists paid tributes to him.

Published in Daily Times, July 9^th 2018.