Young artists give JPMC a facelift

Celebrities join around 400 students to clean and brighten up the city’s largest hospital

KARACHI:

Around 400 volunteers from various educational institutions descended upon the country's largest public hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, on Friday. They were on a mission: to give the hospital a thorough wash and a facelift.

Armed with broomsticks, dustpans and paintbrushes, several of the young students disposed of the regular garbage and medical waste, while others painted over the political slogans with bright colours to give the façade an uplift. They fervently rubbed and wiped clean the paan stains from the corridors, pledging to leave the public hospital spick and span. The event was organised by the Aman Foundation under the 'Karachi Savaro' campaign.



The façade of the building that houses the JPMC's emergency ward was white-washed and then painted with inspired splashes of bright colours by Hifza Kaleem, a student of Indus Valley School. She had been working on the façade for the last two days. Kaleem told The Express Tribune that she was on a mission to clean Karachi as she painted random shapes of leaves and flowers with cool colours. "I do not want to use harsh colours like red," she said adding that they would enhance the stress of patients and their families rushing to the emergency ward.

Meanwhile, scores of Karachi Grammar School (KGS) students aimed to set up a waiting area outside the emergency ward. One of the students, Adnan, told The Express Tribune that he would place benches on the pavement and for that purpose, they had been cleaning the area since morning.

Terming JPMC the heart of Karachi, Aman Foundation CEO Malik Ahmad Jalal said that it was a hospital where the poor and even the wealthy came for the medical treatment. He stressed that the people of Karachi will have to take ownership of the hospital, which provides free services to patients.



Celebrities start pouring in

Celebrities started pouring in to show their support and took active part in cleaning and painting the hospital. Cricketer Waseem Akhtar's wife, Shaneira Wasim, while planting a sapling, said that it was necessary for Karachi that everyone be aware of the condition of government hospitals. "The hospital is changing slowly for the better," she said, adding that she had found a lot of compassion in the people of Pakistan, particularly those from Karachi.

Actor Fahad Mustafa said it was rare to see people working for the city. "Everyone just talks and talks. No one works," he said, adding that the wards were in a bad shape and it was the job of the management and the government to maintain a clean environment. Film director Nabeel Qureshi said that the hospital needed care as it was in a very bad condition due to the government's negligence.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th,  2015.