His selfless service of decades made him a symbol of humanity, helping others and engaging in philanthropic projects
KARACHI: Abdul Sattar Edhi, is the simplest man I have have met in my life. He wore simple shalwar kameez, lived a simple life and did not even change his footwear for many years at a time. He was a polite man and had not taken a single day off throughout his entire life, working day and night in psychiatric centres, bathing corpses and wrapping coffins.
He did not take a single rupee form international organisations because he believed that we could help ourselves sufficiently. He earned donations from fellow citizens and built more than 250 centres across the country for the mentally ill, unnamed children, drug addicts, the sick, homeless, aged and orphans and established world largest ambulance service across Pakistan. He helped people in every difficult time, whether it was floods, droughts, earthquakes, or terrorist attacks. He focused not only inside Pakistan but also carried out relief work during Hurricane Katrina and other disasters in Asia and the Middle East.
Several awards were rightfully given to him but instead of these awards honouring him, Edhi honoured these awards. His selfless service of decades made him a symbol of humanity, helping others, caring for them, and engaging in philanthropic projects. He not only earned great respect and honour from our fellow countrymen but also worldwide. He was a beacon of hope for many.
Fayyaz Salih Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2017.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
