Three decades on, doctor serves people of his village

Dr Shabbir Nawaz Safavi has been active in Koohi Goth and adjoining areas

KARACHI: While all the doctors take the Hippocratic Oath and vow to serve humanity, many see the profession as a money-minting business. Dr Shabbir Nawaz Safavi, however, is quite the opposite of that.

He has been active in Koohi Goth, a small colony in Bin Qasim Town, and adjoining areas, serving the residents of the locality for the past three decades. He works at the Koohi Goth Hospital.

Dr Safavi is himself a resident of Agha Bagh, which is close to Koohi Goth. According to him, he wanted to serve the area he belonged to. "I am the first doctor in this village and my aim was to serve these people who do not have sufficient facilities for healthcare in the vicinity," he said. He shared that his grandfather, who was a teacher in Sindh Madressatul Islam, bought some land in the area for cultivation purposes. They then shifted to Agha Bagh permanently.

Dr Shabbir Nawaz Safavi has been active in Koohi Goth, a small colony in Bin Qasim Town, serving the residents for past three decades. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

"Our family has been living here since 1917 and saw the emergence of Koohi Goth settlement," he said, recalling details that his father narrated to him of his childhood. "I studied in a school in Saddar until class five," said Dr Safavi. He recalled how he used to travel with his three brothers, two sisters and their mother, who was a layout designer at the National Institute of Public Administration.



"We use to take the tram to travel till Jehangir Park to reach our school, which was Marie Colaco Grammar School," he said, reflecting on how the city has changed in terms of population and means of transport.

After completing primary education, he went to Airport Model School for his matriculation while he completed his intermediate education in science from Government National College. Dr Safavi got distinction in the Urdu language, which helped him in getting admission in Dow Medical College in 1973.

He is the first doctor in this village. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS

"It was very costly for me to travel from home daily so I took campus accommodation and that was the first time when I used electricity and water for my residential use," he said while recalling how there was no electricity and water in his village. According to him, he used to study in the light of a lantern. "I still remember how we used kerosene oil to fill up lanterns to study at night."

After completing his graduation from Karachi, he, along with many of his friends, went to England for post-graduate studies. He completed his clinical attachments and specialised in cardiology and general medicine. "It was in 1983 that I went to England for studies and came back to serve my people in 1984," he said.

Dr Safavi was a class fellow of Dr Shershah Syed, who is a renowned gynaecologist and set up Koohi Goth Hospital in 2001.

Dr Safavi is married to an English woman with whom he fell in love with when he was completing his postgraduate degree. She was a registered staff nurse who shifted to Pakistan to marry him in 1988. His wife, Sarah, served as the principal for School of Midwifery in Koohi Goth Hospital for four years. Dr Safavi has been looking after the patients and teaching pharmacology since 2007.



"I always wanted to [give] back what this village has given to me," he said while mentioning that the respect and belief he and his family have received is commendable and cannot be replaced. "I never left the village even after earning good to work in the city because I knew I belong to this area and these people need my services," he said. "I had practised privately for a few years in Malir but I never asked for any fee." Dr Safavi has now stopped practising in the private clinic and is teaching at the School of Midwifery and serving his patients at the hospital.

After him, his eldest daughter is the first dental surgeon from the village. His second daughter is studying strategic marketing in England on a scholarship. "I educated my daughters at local schools near our locality," he said, adding that both his daughters have studied from Mohammadi Girls School in Malir.