Old-age benefits: In Peshawar, a home for all elderly
Shelter provides medical treatment, food and clothing to senior citizens.
PESHAWAR:
Senior citizens in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa now have a home in Peshawar. Together, they spend their time playing carrom and watching television at the province’s first shelter for the elderly.
Last month, the provincial government inaugurated a senior citizens’ home in the provincial capital, which provides medical treatment, food, clothing and recreational facilities to the elderly. Any person over 60 years of age can be registered at the centre, which is located in Jehangirabad.
Resident Lal Zada, 77, has six children and suffers from a physical disability. He lost one his hands when it got caught in a machine at a plastics factory where he was previously employed. “I couldn’t afford the medical expenses and decided to come here for treatment,” he said. A doctor visits him and other members every evening.
Abdur Razaq, 80, says he was a well-to-do contractor and lived with his five sons and two daughters. “My children work as labourers and are not financially strong enough to afford my medical expenses,” Razaq said.
“All of them have large families so I wish I had given them an education,” he added. He heard about the senior citizens’ home and came here to get treated for a chest infection. Now he spends his time with his friends at the centre watching TV, playing board games and visiting the nearby mosque.
Muhammad Aslam, 75, has a similar story. A former employee of the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Aslam has nine children. Seven of his sons got married and their house became too congested to accommodate him so he moved to the old-age home.
The project manager at the senior citizens home, Khurshid Khan, said the building has a capacity for 25 people. Many of its residents, who are both from the province and the tribal areas, were homeless before staff members saw them and took them in. “When someone wants to go outside, one of our members goes with them because most people are not well,” Khan added.
The centre will establish district branches in Kohistan, Shangla and Battagram. The entire project is estimated to cost Rs14.8 million. In the second phase, the service will be extended to Torghar and Tank districts.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2012.
Senior citizens in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa now have a home in Peshawar. Together, they spend their time playing carrom and watching television at the province’s first shelter for the elderly.
Last month, the provincial government inaugurated a senior citizens’ home in the provincial capital, which provides medical treatment, food, clothing and recreational facilities to the elderly. Any person over 60 years of age can be registered at the centre, which is located in Jehangirabad.
Resident Lal Zada, 77, has six children and suffers from a physical disability. He lost one his hands when it got caught in a machine at a plastics factory where he was previously employed. “I couldn’t afford the medical expenses and decided to come here for treatment,” he said. A doctor visits him and other members every evening.
Abdur Razaq, 80, says he was a well-to-do contractor and lived with his five sons and two daughters. “My children work as labourers and are not financially strong enough to afford my medical expenses,” Razaq said.
“All of them have large families so I wish I had given them an education,” he added. He heard about the senior citizens’ home and came here to get treated for a chest infection. Now he spends his time with his friends at the centre watching TV, playing board games and visiting the nearby mosque.
Muhammad Aslam, 75, has a similar story. A former employee of the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Aslam has nine children. Seven of his sons got married and their house became too congested to accommodate him so he moved to the old-age home.
The project manager at the senior citizens home, Khurshid Khan, said the building has a capacity for 25 people. Many of its residents, who are both from the province and the tribal areas, were homeless before staff members saw them and took them in. “When someone wants to go outside, one of our members goes with them because most people are not well,” Khan added.
The centre will establish district branches in Kohistan, Shangla and Battagram. The entire project is estimated to cost Rs14.8 million. In the second phase, the service will be extended to Torghar and Tank districts.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2012.