Indian doctors get little Pakistani hearts beating - thenews.com.pk
Since the successful heart surgeries that
repaired the severe heart defects they were
born with, two boys from Sindh have a new
ambition: they want to become heart
surgeons. Riyaz, 13, wants to return to India
and work as a doctor in the country that gave
him a new lease of life, while Hossain, 14,
wants to serve in Pakistan, which still lacks
facilities for complicated heart surgeries.
But for now, Riyaz, a diehard fan of Shahrukh
Khan and Indian Hindi movies in general, is
happy that he doesnt have to be scared of
the effects of aerial firing after an India
Pakistan cricket match or the honking of car
horns, and Hossain is happy he will be able
to play and run. His father, a poor farmer
named Maula Bakhsh, is still amazed that his
son will be able to lead a normal life. The
parents cannot thank the Indian doctors
enough.
Little Maryam, who was operated upon at the
same time, is also eager to now be active
and contribute to society Her parents are
grateful to Rotary and Aman ki Asha
sponsors for giving their daughter a second
life.
The surgeries, conducted by cardiologist Dr
Ram Ghodeswar, assisted by anesthesiologist
Dr Manish Sonkusare, at Care Hospital in
Nagpur, India, were part of a groundbreaking
programme called Heart to Heart, under the
Gift of Life initiative launched by Aman ki
Asha and Rotary Pakistan and Rotary Indian
Humanity Foundation (RIHF), in March 2011.
Abdullah, a poor farmer from district
Nawabshah, was distraught when he could
not afford his sons heart surgery. Aman ki
Asha emerged as a ray of hope. I am
thankful to Jang/Geo Group, Rotary Pakistan
and friends in India for the favour, he said.
In the past year and a half alone, the Gift of
Life has facilitated over a hundred successful
heart surgeries, of children from all over
Pakistan. Heart-to-Heart initially aimed to
send 200 children with congenital heart
defects to top heart institutions in India for
treatment, but this was just a conservative
estimate, a launching pad, as RIHF trustee
Kamal Sanghvi said when he came to
Karachi to sign the MoU. Sure enough, Heart
to Hearts current target is to benefit a
thousand children.
An earlier agreement signed in February 2011
between Aman ki Asha, the joint peace
initiative of the Jang Group and the Times of
India, and Rotary, aims to set up 30 state-
of-the-art eye hospitals in Pakistan, establish
family and student exchanges between India
and Pakistan, and develop Youth Leadership
Awards.
The partnership, boosted by Rotary Clubs
extensive network and the reach of the Jang
Group, aims to benefit those who need it the
most, while also working to establish peace.
It leverages the respective strengths of both
organisations and countries to improve the
lives of some of the most vulnerable sections
of population on either side.
Rotarians in India and Pakistan follow up on
the arrangements from helping the
applicants obtain the passports (which many,
belonging to the poorest sections of society,
dont have) to visas, travel and
accommodation.
Rotary Past District Governor (PDG) Faiz
Kidwai who is also the Rotary coordinator for
the Rotary-Aman Ki Asha partnership, and
PDG Aziz Memon are the main organisers
who facilitate applicants on the Pakisan end,
while PDG Deepak Talwar and PDG Madhu
Rughwani, and their teams look after
arrangements in India.
Countless doctors have laboured to restore
health to Pakistani children under this
initiative, like Dr. Saurav Varshney and Dr.
Varun Bhargava at Care Hospitals, Dr.
Satyajit Bose and his team at Mission
Hospital in Durgapur, West Bengal, as well as
those who have conducted surgeries at
hospitals in Bangalore, Gujrat and Ludhiana.
Local Rotary Clubs in India sponsor the
surgeries. The Rotary fraternity of Nagpur in
Rid-3030 is so inspired that they would like
to facilitate 2-3 surgeries a month,
Rotary is also helping to develop facilities for
congenital heart surgeries in Pakistan, at the
Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and
National Institute of Cardio-vascular
Diseases (NICVD) to start with. The
continuing partnership between Aman ki Asha
and Rotary International has led to real
victories personal as well as in the context
of relations between Pakistan and India. It is
an ongoing journey, with hope of much more
to come.
The writer is a former assistant coordinator
for Aman Ki Asha.
Email:
anam_tariq_khan@hotmail.com
