Belgian messiah gets Pakistani visa extension till 2020

76-year-old Jeannine Geuns has dedicated her life to serve people of Pakistan

KARACHI:
After much delay, Belgian nurse Jeannine Geuns has finally been granted an extension in her visa up till July 29, 2020.

Guens, who left Belgium in 1962 to live and serve patients in a suburban locality of Karachi, was fighting to get an extension in her visa to stay among her patients. She was worried that she won't be allowed to return to Pakistan if she left.

Speaking to The Express Tribune Pakistan-Belgium Business Forum president Muhammad Rajpar said that the Government of Pakistan currently has a very cumbersome process for regulating non-government organisations and related visa requests for foreign personnel. The process involves multiple agencies and departments, which is often the cause for delay.

Belgian nurse in limbo over visa extension

"The efforts of Belgian ambassador, along with the coverage given by The Express Tribune and Pak-Belgian Business Forum's follow-up with the relevant agencies, resulted in this positive outcome," Rajpar said.

Her visa extension is not only beneficial for her, but also for the beneficiaries of Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC), he said. Geuns has been providing her services at MALC, located in Mangophir, even at the age of 76.


Although Geuns herself was unable to comment, her friend and companion in the nursing sector, Sister Nishat, said she was relieved and joyous at the news of her visa extension.

Nishat claimed that Geuns will go meet her family in Belgium this summer, hopefully in June. Speaking about the school that Guens is running, Nishat said the school requires funds.

Ainee Shehzad, who is a member of board of trustees at MALC, said she knows Guens ever since she joined MALC in 1997. "Guens plans to work here in Pakistan, as she has established a school in Mangophir that she is running since last 30 years," Shehzad said.

"Her future is [here and] she cannot go back to Belgium because she has given all her life to Pakistan, by working for leprosy patients and then for education," she added.

According to Ainee, Guens has done excellent work not only as first matron of MALC, but also by going to the field and treating patients across Pakistan.

She said that Guens established a project in Mangophir and Gadap, dedicated all her life to educating the children who were not going to school, who would have ended up either becoming beggars or petty thieves.
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