The Edhi Foundation: Serving Humanity Is the Spirit of all Religions

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Over the world there are so many activities lead by people with good hearts and intentions, thier contribution to the world have been so massive. In Pakistan, there are a number of charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are active in Pakistan, working so hard to help contribute and solve a wide range of social and economic issues in the country. In my search for these organizations, I came across so many different organizations but the one that actually caught my eye was The Edhi Foundation, of which I will be writing about in this post. My entry for this great contest organized by @hivepakistan and @Spiritsurge begins…

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The Edhi Foundation is an organization that seeks to address the social and welfare challenges of Pakistani, with zero and it is located in Karachi, Pakistan. The founder of this great organization is in the name of Abdul Sattar Edhi who is a a prominent philanthropist and social activist, and it was founded in the year 1951. As I mentioned earlier, the goal of the foundation is to provide citizens with so many opportunities/services to address social challenges which includes an emergency medical care, shelter for the homeless, and education for children. There are also services provided such as; educational services, missing persons services, free kitchen and marriage bureau etc.

A little about the founder

Abdul Sattar Edhi is the founder of the Edhi Foundation and he was born in Bantva,a small village which is near Gujrat (India),in the year 1928. At a tender age, his mom got very ill and paralyzed and so he had to take good care of his mom. From bathing, providing clothes and food to his mom. He had developed the act of such kindness in his childhood ages. His mother’s condition got even worse as time went by.

Services provided By Edhi Foundation

Ambulance Services

There are so many operations and services provided by this foundation and I will like to talk about a few. From my research, I learned that the Edhi Foundation is well known for its provisions of ambulance service. There are currently over 1,800 ambulances in operation from the foundation which makes it the largest ambulance service in the world. Also, these ambulance services come with modern medical equipment and the staff involved are also well trained by top medical professionals, who are available 24 hours a day, and they work throughout the week. The amazing part of this service is that, all this comes for free, meaning you don’t have to pay anything. That is why it is available to anyone in need, regardless of their social or economic status.

Homes & Orphanage Centers

It doesn’t just stop there, the Edhi Foundation also operates a number of other programs to assist people in need. The next one to talk about is shelter homes for the homeless, this helps to make sure people in need are not left on the streets. This also comprises of the orphanages provided for children. Edhi Foundation has set-up a number of homes all over Pakistan which sum up to 18 homes. With this total number of houses provided, there is a total of about 8500 people accommodated, which includes both children and adult people.. Besides,this it also women in the affected from domestic violence who are also accommodated in these homes.

Educational services

The Edhi Foundation has also provided the country with the sense to learn and develop children into better people in society one day. There are several educational facilities and schools provided over the country for children and students to be apart of. One of these schools is In Mirpur Khaas, a middle school which has over 510 students, starting from nursery school. The students are excellent in their studies and many of them have scores over 80%. This just show how good of an impact the foundation has on the town, and country as a whole.

Missing Persons services and burial services

We all know that Pakistan is a large place which faces so many social challenges, as a result, large number of children leave their homes or get separated from their families during emergencies just to have a chance of survival. Also, mentally handicapped people sometimes are not able to find back their homes and finally find themselves wandering about. With this, Edhi Foundation chooses ways and means to find these missing people and some of the ways this is achieved is by either using its own wireless network, state radio and T.V. channels. Sometimes the foundation also arranges local announcements and advertisements. This helps to reunite so many lost family members in the country.

Similarly, unidentified dead bodies are kept in cold mortuaries or let’s say the morgue. So many efforts and ways are being undertaken in order to to identify the next of kin or any associated family members and relatives. This service also helps them retrieve family members who might have been involved in a accident, not only in Pakistan but the service is also available for Pakistani who live outside such as the US and UK. This also helps families who may not afford a proper burial of their lost one by giving the family a proper burial ceremony.

Other services provided by the foundation includes;Rehabilitation centers for drug addicts, Edhi Animal hostel for pets and wounded animals, langer service otherwise know as free kitchen where food is provided for people in need. Lastly, marriage bureau services for couples is also available from this foundation.

Recognition and Awards

Because of the very good work and services provided by the Edhi Foundation it has seen a great recognition over the world and thus earning them so many awards as well. In the year 1986, Abdul Sattar Edhi received the “Asian Nobel Prize” for all the good work he had done with this foundation. Not only the Nobel Prize, the foundation was also recognized by the Guinness World Records and was then awarded for operating the largest volunteer ambulance organization in the world.

Upon all these praises and awards, this surely shows how much impact the Edhi Foundation has had on the people of Pakistan. There are simply so many services that everyone can benefit from in this foundation.

Funding and Support

The Edhi Foundation operates solely from the different volunteers coming together to contribute to this great foundation. Works from so many different sectors contribute to make all of this possible. The donations from individuals from a minimum of 5 Rps to thousands, together all accounts to how this foundation is able to function and operate so well for the people. Also, there are regular fundraising activities and events organized that helps to accumulate funds and donations to help support the foundation.

You can contact them through their official website or by the below other options;