Sunny Sunday: Volunteers, families team up for a good cause

Children Cancer Hospital holds a successful fund raising carnival for paediatric cancer.

KARACHI: Little volunteers put up a large carnival for their little friends. In yellow t-shirts and smiles, they painted faces, sold goodies and supported the cause.

The Children Cancer Hospital organised a fundraising carnival at the Nisar Shaheed Park on Sunday for the cause of paediatric cancer.

The passes, which cost Rs300 each, were all sold by the volunteers, their friends and families. “By yesterday (Saturday), we had sold around 6,000 passes,” said Asna, a volunteer.

Many people generously bought the passes and served at the carnival too. Amna Rehmat with her cupcake boutique stall, Pat-a-Cake, is donating all her earnings to the cause. Happy with the response she was getting from the customers, Rehmat said she was glad that she was working for such a genuine cause — and receiving publicity was her reward.

Some were at work, while others were there to have fun. Seerat and Sherazad, two friends from DA Public School, had bought passes from their friends and had come for a good time. “Of course, when there is a cause attached to, you never mind paying for it,” said Seerat. “It’s better than the other event, because of the rides.”

Two-year-old Zoha was among the many children having a fun-filled sunny Sunday at the carnival. She showed off her souvenir: a wooden board with a peg with her name written in paint and glitter. When Zoha was asked why she was at the carnival, her grandmother replied with a sigh, “There is something to do, thank God! Is there anything to do in Karachi?” When we left for the carnival today, we knew it was a good, secure, day event, she said. “Otherwise, we are always praying that we reach home safely.”

Z, a member of the 40-member core volunteer team requesting anonymity, said she was inspired to work for the hospital when she visited the hospital with her husband. “I was touched to see such an organised set-up for children.”

She termed Dr Muhammad Shamvil Ashraf, the founder of the hospital, the heartbeat of the hospital.

“He knows the names of all the patients by heart, he knows all the cured patients, all the outgoing and all the admitted. He even knows those who come just for check-ups.”

Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Ashraf said he started the set-up from a simple room. After he completed undergraduate medicine, he was affected by the negligent treatment of children with cancer. “I was compelled to study paediatric oncology.”

He later went for training abroad and came back to work for this permanently. Dr Ashraf proudly said the hospital is the only dedicated paediatric-cancer hospital in the province that started with only 23 beds and with patients turning up from Karachi, interior Sindh, Balochistan, Afghanistan and even Punjab.

Satisfied with the way his fundraising was coming along, Dr Ashraf said raising the money was only a secondary goal. “The main aim is to create awareness about the disease.” He said about 6,000 to 7,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in Pakistan, based on the data of the Karachi Cancer Directory. Almost 50 to 55 per cent is the survival rate of patients at the hospital, as cancer in children can be avoided with a long-term treatment.

The Children Cancer Hospital was established in 2001 at Federal B Area and is a project of the Children Cancer Foundation Pakistan Trust. The hospital’s children cancer unit is run mostly on donations and Zakat.

According to the hospital, 71 per cent of the patients are treated free of charge, 23 per cent are on partial assistance and only 6 per cent are fully paying for the treatment.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th,  2011.