Charity Cause: “Edhi Foundation”
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“Wherever there is a human in need, there is an opportunity for kindness and to make a difference.” -Kevin Heath
Edhi Foundation is the single best foundation across Pakistan and one of the best social welfare service providers across the world running on non-commercial, non-political, and non-communal basis, serving round-the-clock without any discrimination of color, class, and creed.
Abdul Sattar Edhi was born in 1928 in a small village of Bantva near Joona Garh, Gujrat (India). The seeds of compassion for the suffering humanity were sown in his soul by his mother’s infirmity. When Edhi was at the tender age of eleven, his mother became paralyzed and later got mentally ill. Her persistent woeful condition left a lasting impression on young Edhi. The course of his life took a different turn from other persons of his age.
“When I was a kid, my mother used to give me 2 paisas for school. 1 for me and 1 to help someone in need.” — Abdul Sattar Edhi
His personal experience made him think of thousands and millions, suffering like his mother, around with nobody to look after them. He thought that he had a call to help these people. He had a vision of chains of welfare centers and hospitals that could be opened to alleviate the pain of those suffering from illness and neglect. His very thought was the basis of Edhi Foundation. Though, it wasn’t a very easy journey, Edhi Sahb still never gave up. His passion and pure dedication towards humanity can now be seen not only in Pakistan but all throughout the World.
Edhi involves himself in every activity at Edhi Foundation from raising funds to bathing corpses. Round the clock he keeps with him an ambulance which he drives himself and makes rounds of the city regularly. On finding a destitute or an injured person anywhere on the way, he escorts him to the Relief Centre where immediate attention is given to the needy person. Inspite of his busy work schedule with the Foundation, Edhi finds enough time to spare with the residents of the orphanages called “Edhi Homes”. He is very fond of playing and laughing with the children. A short strongly built man in his early seventies with a flowing beard and a ready smile, Edhi is popularly called “Nana” (Grandfather) by the residents of “Edhi Homes”.
After the death of Abdul Sattar Edhi at the age of 88 in 2016, it was feared that Edhi Foundation’s would suffer, and subsequently it suffered a setback as its donations dropped by almost 30 percent,” said Faisal Edhi, the son of Abdul Sattar Edhi.
Our Contribution:
The fellows at Amal Academy have been given the task to collect donations for the Edhi Foundation. We are distributed in teams of 7 or 8 to work in an effective manner.
We are the “Arfa Kareem Randhawa” Team. Our group comprises of the following members:
- Noor Al Ain Tahir (Circle Leader)
- Amjad Ali
- Haris Amin
- Maham Zubair
- Muhammad Fahd-Un-Nabi Khan
- Muhammad Saad Siddiqui
- Syed Zain Bukhari
- Zil E Huma
As this pandemic has restricted us to our homes, we planned for the advertisement through social media platforms. We brainstormed ideas so we could synchronize and work effectively in the minimum time possible. One of the teams worked on the banner and the other worked on updating a short piece of documentary. Then, we put all of those on our social media accounts and hoped for a positive and effective response.
With whom were the posters shared?
All of our group mates shared the posters on their social media accounts among their friends and family. We also asked people to share the information among their social circles so more people get aware about this campaign.
What were the challenges faced and how did we overcome them?
As the pandemic has hit everyone really hard, most of the people are out of jobs, some are struggling, so it was quite difficult to sort of force people to donate as we also know how hard it is for everyone right now.
Luckily, we got in contact with some people who donated generously. There were really few of them but we were really happy that at least we got something for donation instead of nothing.We shared our posts with over a 100 people and 6 of them responded.Our team members also contributed for donation, so overall we got more than we thought of getting. We were able to collect PKR 9000 as of till now.
How has this experience helped you in accepting failure?
We realized that it is quite difficult to convince people even for a really good cause. Some people have their reasons and some just don’t bother. There comes our part of being patient and understanding. If someone has an authentic reason, then be understanding and help them, if not with money then with some encouraging words. If someone is just being ignorant, then instead of arguing with them, show them what good you are actually doing so they realize that they are making a mistake. As we all know, “Action speaks louder than words.”
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” -Henry Ford
So, our energies got low but not getting a very good response, we still didn’t give up and kept trying and sharing our posts in hopes of getting more responses. It taught us the lesson of patience, hard work, being understanding and never giving up for our cause.
