When Abdul Sattar Edhi arrived in Karachi from Western India in the 1950s he was penniless. But from these humble beginnings rose the Edhi Foundation which has now grown into one of the largest social service agencies in Pakistan with the entire budget of 10 million USD coming from ordinary Pakistanis. His wife, Bilquis, began working as a nurse of the the Edhi Foundation and now oversees housing facilities that house about 9000: sheltered women, orphaned children and a nursery for abandoned infants, most of them severely handicapped.
Among a few of the things they provide are:
"The Foundation's activites include a 24 hour emergency service across the country through 335 Edhi Centers with the fleet of 1800 Ambulances which provide free shrouding and burial of unclaimed dead bodies, shelter for the destitutes, orphans and handicapped persons, free hospitals and dispensaries, rehabilitaion of drug addicts, free wheel chairs, crutches and other services for the handicapped, family planning counselling and maternity services, national and international relief efforts for the victims of natural calamities."
From www.edhi.org
As well as National services, they have also provided International aid to a long list of countries in need. Him and his foundation are now the subject of a documentary "These Birds Walk".
"Edhi hasn’t receded behind a desk over the years, and he talks about himself with extraordinary modesty: “If you want to find me,” he tells the filmmakers, “look to ordinary people.”"
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