First 'bheek mission' after demise of Edhi kicks off at Numaish

Commuters returning home from offices, universities stop to donate as they spot Faisal Edhi

KARACHI: Following in the footsteps of his late father Abdul Sattar Edhi, Faisal Edhi, who is the head of the Edhi Foundation, set up a camp, 'Bheek [begging] Mission Camp', at Numaish Chowrangi, MA Jinnah Road, on Friday.

This was the first bheek mission initiated by Faisal after his father's demise.

One after another, commuters stopped their vehicles and donated money to the foundation with a satisfactory smile.

Wearing a black Jinnah cap on his head, Faisal was surrounded by orphaned children of the Clifton Edhi Centre while his volunteers and son, Saad, were also present at the camp.



Meanwhile, a female volunteer in an Edhi ambulance was appealing to the public to donate to the foundation in announcements on a loudspeaker.

The passersby, whether it was someone returning home from office or from university, stopped their vehicle as they spotted Faisal to drop money into a basket placed in front of him.

"The people of this country have always been generous towards the foundation," Faisal told The Express Tribune, emphasising the foundation's strength because of the support of the people.

"Just a while ago, a woman dropped her gold bangles into this basket and another one dropped Rs50,000," Faisal shared.



Faisal said they sat at the camp for three to four hours and plan to continue organising such camps after every few days.

He added that he wanted to continue with his father's legacy and does not want people to feel he [Abdul Sattar Edhi] is no more in this world, for which they are working hard.

Responding to a question about the difficulties the organisation has been facing, Faisal once again mentioned they required support from the government in order to sell their fleet of vans, which are not able to operate as ambulances anymore as they have covered more than 1 million kilometres. Therefore, he said, the foundation requires special permission from the federal government to sell the vans.



However, he added that the support of the people is still with him and it is only because of his father that people continue to trust the organisation.

Meanwhile, The Express Tribune also talked to the people who were stopping by to donate and meet Faisal.

Returning home from office, Muhammad Asif said it is the duty of every citizen to support Faisal after his father.

Farah Mumtaz, a BBA student, said she has always heard about the great services of late Edhi sahab but never got the opportunity to see him. Hence, she stopped at the camp to contribute whatever she could.