Footprints: Keeping the Edhi spirit alive

Published May 26, 2017
Faisal Edhi in the charity’s headquarters in Mithadar.
—Fahim Siddiqi / White Star
Faisal Edhi in the charity’s headquarters in Mithadar. —Fahim Siddiqi / White Star

KARACHI: In Bombay Bazaar of Mithadar, one can sense the anticipation. The rush at the market, the dense traffic and the hustle and bustle are far from a rare scene in this area, one of the oldest in the city. Even so, the number of vehicles and the nature of their engagements are heralding the beginning of Ramazan.

From donkey-carts to motorbikes, to rickshaws, to trucks — every single mode of transport is either loaded up with a multitude of goods or offloading them outside the shops. The traders here are gearing up for the month of fasting, as when it comes to business, this ninth month of the Islamic calendar is always a boon for them.

What’s unusual in the market this Ramazan, though, is the scene in a narrow street where the headquarters of the Edhi Foundation are located. This Ramazan, the charity will be without its founding chief for the first time in more than five decades.

As I enter the charity’s office on a humid Wednesday evening, Faisal Edhi takes me to the room where his father, Abdul Sattar Edhi, would start sitting regularly a few days before every Ramazan. Here, he spent the evenings of the holy month meeting people, from ordinary citizens to national leaders and rights activists to corporate gurus.

“He used to sit here,” says Faisal, pointing to a three-seater sofa placed at the entrance of the room. “A few days before Ramazan, he would start sitting here in the evening and till sunset he would be meeting people. All kinds of people, some who would make donations and others who wanted some donations or help of some sort. This Ramazan will not be like past ones.”

This is not the only reason that there is a break with the past. The country’s largest charity faces many challenges after the demise of its founder, the country’s icon of charity and welfare work who left behind a history of dedication, contribution and struggle to improve the lives of millions of the poor, regardless of their beliefs, ethnicity and backgrounds.

The legacy of Edhi has been tested in recent months and this Ramazan, Faisal says, he only hopes to match the amount of donations made during the holy month in 2016, when his father was alive but severely ill.

“Even if we match last year’s amount, it would be an achievement,” he says. “Donations to the Edhi Foundation have declined after the death of my father. But, despite that decline, we haven’t stopped a single operation and have instead expanded the number of our services. People relying on our services have not lost hope for single day.”

His claims are meeting real-time reality checks during our discussion. During our almost hour-long conversation, a number of people including men, women and children visit his office. Some need shelter and some have come for food, others for financial assistance. Each individual is entertained by the volunteers at the charity’s different sections and no one leaves disappointed. That the Edhi Foundation is facing hard times both emotionally and financially is not their problem.

“As a defined policy, unlike other organisations we don’t accept government or foreign funding,” explains Faisal, recalling that in October 2015, his father turned down an offer by Indian premier Narendra Modi to donate 10 million Indian rupees to his charity, which had made possible the return of hearing- and speech-impaired girl Geeta to her family in the neighbouring country.

“Only recently we have signed an agreement with Coca-Cola Pakistan which will make donations to our organisation and will also spend a handsome amount on an innovative awareness campaign throughout the country. Otherwise, like Edhi Sahib, we rely only on our Bheek [alms] mission. For that purpose, I recently set up camp near Mazar-i-Quaid. We will do that again to appeal to people — the mission started by Abdul Sattar Edhi should never cease.”

While admitting that these are tough times for the charity and urging Pakistanis abroad to help Edhi’s “mission of serving humanity,” he doesn’t sound as though he is losing hope. And neither should people believe that anything has deteriorated in terms of the Edhi Foundation. The number of people at its shelters has grown to 6,000 this year, which includes a thousand abandoned or orphaned children. One can feel the absence of Abdul Sattar Edhi at his office, but there has been hardly any change to the routines and practices at Mithadar.

Leaving the building, I encounter a woman and her young son explaining the purpose of her visit to an Edhi volunteer. “I have come to get crutches for my husband,” she is saying. “He is disabled and someone told me that I could get them for free from the Edhi office. I am a poor woman and can’t afford to buy him crutches.”

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2017

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