Overseas Pakistanis should keep Edhi’s mission alive

LONDON: Edhi Foundation’s head of operations for UK and Europe Tariq Awan has said that there has been a drop in donations since the death of one of the world’s most famous philanthropists Abdul Sattar Edhi but hoped that overseas Pakistanis will help to continue the mission of Edhi following his death.

Speaking to Geo News at the Edhi Foundation’s Edgware Road office, Tariq Awan said that there has been a decline in donations in overseas territories as well as in Pakistan but said that millions of overseas Pakistanis always stood by Edhi and will continue to do so.

Tariq Awan said that Abdul Sattar Edhi’s death has saddened millions of people around the world who saw in him a messiah and as an angel of mercy whose life was defined by serving humanity. Tariq Awan said that search engine Google paid ultimate tribute to Abdul Sattar Edhi by giving him Doodle treatment.

In Edhi’s honour, Google changed its logo in the United States; Iceland; Portugal; Australia; New Zealand; Japan; Estonia; the UK; Denmark; Ireland and Pakistan to a doodle, or illustration, of Edhi and hailed Edhi's "super-efficient" ambulance service.

Tariq Awan said that Google’s gesture showed how much Abdul Sattar Edhi meant to the world and how he has brought goodwill for Pakistan throughout the world. He said Edhi faced many tribulations in his life but was never deterred from his mission. He said that Edhi’s son and wife – Faisal Edhi and Bilqees Edhi – are devoted to carrying forward the mission of the great philanthropist. He said in his life Abdul Sattar Edhi remained in touch with overseas Pakistanis and always appreciated their support for Pakistan’s poorest of the poor and needy.

He said that Abdul Sattar Edhi founded the world's largest volunteer ambulance network in Pakistan, the Edhi Foundation, and unlike wealthy individuals that fund charities in their names, Edhi dedicated his life to the poor from the age of 20, when he himself was penniless in Karachi and didn’t have any resources.

He said that today the Edhi Foundation runs outpatient hospitals, a child adoption centre, burial services, cradles for unwanted babies and rescue boats and depends on public donations to run these services. He said that overseas Pakistanis in Britain and elsewhere have always generously donated for Edhi Foundation because they know that Abdul Sattar Edhi’s charitable work has no political or any other kind of ambition. “Edhi taught us that there must be only one ambition and that’s to serve humanity.”