A Cause Worth Rallying Around

What makes an entire nation, even the entire world rally around a person? It takes a hero.  Not because they think of themselves as a hero, but because they find the courage to stand up against something that makes no sense to them.  In this case, Malala Yousufzai, a fourteen year old Pakistani girl making good on a personal commitment to get an education, no matter what the cost.  The rest of the world looks at their actions, listens to their words, and aspires to be like them. It also takes a villain performing a cowardly, hateful and inhumane act.  It takes a group, like the Taliban, that through some twisted logic believes itself to be right, and superior to all creation.  It takes a few of these cowards to walk into a school bus, identify our hero, and shoot her in the head. But our hero survives.  If this is not divine intervention, what is? Over the last few weeks, since this heinous act by the Taliban, all sides of the political spectrum in Pakistan has spoken and acted in unison against this heinous act.  Talk about a rainbow coalition.  Then the support has spread outside the boundaries of Pakistan.  The US, the UN, the EU and other countries and organizations have come together in support of Malala Yousufzai and against the Taliban. This little girl, now fourteen, was eleven when she was blogging against the Taliban’s policies – atrocious then, and atrocious now – against educating women. For her courage, last year she became the first-ever recipient of the Pakistan national peace award.   In addition, KidsRights Foundation, an advocacy group, also nominated her for the International Children’s Peace Prize. She was becoming an international symbol of hope, a peaceful and powerful young voice against the insanity of the Taliban mind.  So they did what their warped logic dictated. Now, further demonstrating their utter lack of humanity, they have renewed their vow to kill Malala, whose precious life a community of doctors in Pakistan and the UK are trying to save, and for whom entire nations are holding prayers. What do you say to people whose minds function like this?  Is it even worth sitting down with them? One can only hope that the news reports about the Pakistani government catching hundreds of the people involved in this tragedy are actually true, and that the responsible people will actually be brought to justice. One can even try to find the silver lining in this difficult chapter of the...

How to spend $700,000?

How to spend $700,000? There was once a minister in the federal government of a country.  He had a wealthy friend.  There was also a retired provincial legislator in the same country.  Collectively they had about $700,000 (the minister $100,000; the friend $400,000, and the legislator $200,000) to spend and wanted to find that special something that would give the best return. They looked into real estate.  The global economy was down.  Almost anywhere in the world, one could find bargain properties at 25%-50% of what they were going for 2 to 3 years ago.  Land was still the most secure investment, and prices were bound to rise again – all part of the natural 10-12 year cycle.  But they realized they already had extensive real estate portfolio.  They were in a quandary. What to do?  As they brainstormed, one of them blurted out – we should consider supporting some sort of humanitarian cause.  Everyone looked at him strangely.  What would be the return on that?  Well, maybe not so tangible, and not so overt.  But it could make a dent in the seemingly hopeless efforts to improve and better develop the foundations of the society they lived in. Why would we want to do that? The others asked at first, but somehow ended up also getting infected.  In a moment of weakness, they felt the pain of their country in their hearts.  As they shared some kind of trance, number and statistics danced in front of their eyes.  The per capita income of $1,256 in 2011-12, slightly up from $1,207 in 2010-11.  The ‘official’ 19% inflation rate in 2011.  The average life expectancy of 65 years.  The infant mortality rate of 59 per thousand births.  It brought a single, powerful, collective tear to their eyes. Unable to stop themselves, they started talking about the NGOs that could benefit from the $700,000.  But which one?  They looked at Wikipedia and found over 500 listed.  They were overwhelmed and gave up when many on the list did not even have active links.  Their hearts were burdened even more.  (I know it is incredulous, but please stay with me). A flash of light.  The Edhi foundation!  They could cover 70% of the cost of the additional Edhi homes for the destitute and orphans to be built over the next few years.  Or they could spend $500,000 and fully cover the cost of the additional rehab centers and ambulances the foundation needed.  Well, it was a good idea, but they argued that...

The Uplifting and the Heartbreaking

Life.  It can uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time, in the same place about the same people. The uplifting.  The 18 Edhi homes, run under the Edhi Foundation umbrella are located in practically all the major metropolitan centers of Pakistan – 7 in Karachi, 3 in Lahore, and one each in Multan, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Chitral.  These walls, serving as orphanages, havens for the mentally and physically handicapped, and refuge for female victims of domestic abuse, house between 8000 and 9000 children, men and women. For more than 55 years, Edhi and his non-profit foundation have been providing humanitarian services in a country that seems to continue to need more and more of it.  The numerous services provided by the Edhi foundation include ambulance services, free kitchens, child adoption and care services, rehabilitation centers and educational services.  Even now, when all this is in place, it is difficult to imagine the scale of the change this one man has been able to make. The heartbreaking.  Last week, nine newborn children die in 12 hours in Larkana, at the Chandka Medical College Hospital.  The cause of this heartbreaking event?  According to the regional government it was power outage.  According to the hospital administration, it was the perpetual overcrowding and late arrival of the mothers-to-be.  It seems the hospital has a capacity of 40 patients, but routinely takes in four times that, crowding four or five babies on the same bed.  Even more heartbreaking, the administrators say 4 to 8 babies die in the hospital every day. I cannot imagine the challenges of the hospital administration.  How can one turn away a woman in labor, even when there is no bed or room for her to deliver the child, and no facilities for the newborn to be cared for?  What does one do when seeing the spark of a new life diminishing and then extinguishing before your eye?  Does one shed a tear, pray to God, and move to the next mother and child? But then, life’s uplifting tales more than often are stories of individuals, while opaque institutions, organizations and bureaus frequently breed accounts of heartbreak and...