Dr Sharmeen Mushtaq Nizami is a J&K-based philanthropist and adventure trekker who helps cancer patients, widows and orphans. (Waseem Andrabi)
Dr Sharmeen Mushtaq Nizami, a J&K-based philanthropist and adventure trekker, feels that a girl can do big things in life when her parents support her; she has set up a charity trust that helps cancer patients, widows and orphans.
Whatever life throws at Dr Sharmeen Mushtaq Nizami, she takes it as a challenge, overcomes it and moves on. She believes one’s life should be an inspiration for others.
Dr Nizami, in her early 40s, works at a Srinagar hospital and runs a trust for cancer patients besides pursuing her hobby of being an extreme mountain trail motor-sport traveller. Since childhood, she has pursued her passion whether it was studying medicine in the 1990s when militancy was at its peak in Jammu and Kashmir or her love for jeeps.
Her biggest challenge in life came when her husband was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2007 within six years of their marriage, leaving her to bring up their two children, a three-year-old son and a year-old daughter.
“It was a traumatic phase. I struggled but my parents supported me. Initially, being a single parent appeared tough but gradually I came to terms with reality,” she says.
As time went by, she decided not to remarry and moved back to her ancestral home in Srinagar from her husband’s house in Jammu.
Dr Nizami, who is now the medical officer in-charge at a Srinagar hospital and on Covid duties, says that her experience during her husband’s illness pushed her towards helping patients and the needy.
“Though we were relatively well off, we had to go outside for treatment as he was suffering from pancreatic cancer. We realised that the treatment is expensive and drains most families’ savings,” she says.
Even before her husband’s death, she would collect money from attendants using charity boxes outside OPDs. Later, friends and colleagues asked her to setup a trust with a separate account where people could donate money. “We get a lot of donations during Ramazan, which are primarily used to help cancer patients and those needing a kidney transplant. The trust also helps widows and orphans who have no source of income,” she says.
Nizami, the eldest of four siblings, says that her parents Mushtaq Nizami, a military contractor, and Shahida Parveen, a homemaker, have been her strength. “Any girl can do big things in life when her parents support her,” she says.
Ask her what got her interested in jeeps, and she says, “I have imbibed my father’s passion for driving jeeps. In 2018, I came upon some videos of the Kashmir off-road club which organises competitive events and overland expeditions, and decided to participate in a snow-race event (Frozen Rush) at Gulmarg.”
Nizami, who always wears a hijab, was the only woman to participate in the adventure sport and created quite a buzz on social media. “I hadn’t realised that I was breaking stereotypes , until I saw people’s reactions,” says Nizami, who has since participated in dangerous events like mud race and river crossing.
“Some people tried to dissuade me saying it was risky, but I remained unafraid,” says Nizami, adding that she gets a lot of messages from young girls who admire her.
She says her faith in the Almighty has never wavered despite the many challenges in her life. “Not just driving, but life in general throws a lot of challenges at us. We have to accept the challenges and move forward,” she says.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Others / by Ashiq Hussain, Srinagar / September 16th, 2021
Children at Umeed Academy. | Picture by arrangement
Wali Rahmani’s work has earned him recognition and respect and people have come forward to sponsor the students in whatever way they can.
Kolkata :
Budding lawyer, human rights activist, orator, motivational speaker, social entrepreneur and a proud father to 140 children, 23-year-old Wali Rahmani hopes that one day all his children will be successful leaders and prove to be invaluable assets to the nation.
The 140 children who fondly call Wali Rahmani Abba Ji hail from different slums of Kolkata. Many of them are orphans and all of these children are from families caught in the vicious cycle of poverty.
Wali with his boys dressed for a skit on harmony. | Picture by arrangement
Wali Rahmani was just 18 when he first took 3 kids from a slum under his wing. These 3 kids, around 3-4 years old, were orphans. Wali, their Abba Ji, washed the soiled clothes of the kids, bathed, cooked and fed them–playing the role of a mother, a father, a nanny and a maid. His determination did not waver. Gradually, he found more and more people joining him which encouraged him to start and register ‘Umeed’, which served both as an orphanage and an educational academy.
The journey of Umeed When Wali Rahmani was just turning 18, many changes were taking place in the country which he said, “changed him as well.” The assembly elections of 2017 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which brought Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister, became the turning point in Wali’s life and brought in its wake an energized goal and mission to work for the upliftment of the society.
Rahmani said he was “aghast that someone like Ajay Singh Bihist a.k.a Yogi Adityanath could become the CM.” He took to social media to talk about the injustices, violations of human rights and atrocities that were happening in the country. This was the beginning of Wali’s political journey. Soon, his fearless voice got him thousands of followers on Youtube, Facebook and other social media.
At one point, Wali paused to reflect that he is the only one talking against the oppression and gross injustices meted to people. Where are all the other youth leaders? Why are they not standing up against injustices? He spoke to his peers but they were keen only on pursuing their education, having fun and enjoying life. They did not want to take up these issues or even talk about them.
“I realized that my suggestions did not go down well with my peers. They did not want someone to tell them to ‘do this and do that.’ It became more of an ego thing,” Wali said, reminiscing the early days.
People who heard his talks on social media, his debates on the television channels looked up to him as the leader of the future. Wali, however, was not happy being a leader. He wanted more leaders in the community. According to him, a true leader is not someone who does not leave any legacy behind. He believes that a true leader creates more leaders and leaves behind a rich legacy. Instead of asking other youth to join him in the mission to raise their voice against the wrongs of society, he thought it is better to create new leaders. He believed that these will be small children who can be successfully molded to become strong leaders. He took a break from his studies for a year to work on this idea of creating future leaders.
“But where would I find these children whom I could train? Would any parent trust me enough to send the child to me? Then by chance, I came across a Hadith by our beloved Prophet (PBUH) wherein he mentioned the status of a Muslim who is kind to orphans. I felt that through this hadith, Allah was guiding me. So, I decided to take in children who had no parents,” Wali said.
“I had made up my mind that I want to be a father of 10 before I turn 20. And people laughed at me. They advised me to go study and asked me blunt questions related to my financial capability,” Wali said, “But I did not give up. It was the womenfolk who came forward to help me realize my dream”.
Wali said that he approached several people who had wealth and could easily help him but instead they scoffed at his idea.
“The very first person to help me was my mother. She believed in my dream. She was the first donor for Umeed,” Wali said while giving details of other donors who were also women.
He remembers the first donors fondly and with gratitude. One woman gave her gold finger ring because she was not earning and wanted to give what belonged to her. Wali likens this to the woman who donated her gold bangles to Sir Syed Ahmed when he was seeking donations for the Aligarh Muslim University.
Some girl students also promised monthly payments from their pocket money. And as they say, small drops of water make a mighty ocean, Wali Rahmani’s dream project began taking a concrete shape.
Today he runs the Umeed Academy in a rented apartment with 140 children. Some of these children are day scholars who are at the academy for at least 12 hours.
Many of these children are kids from slums whose parents are alcoholics, orphans who are homeless, kids who have parents but stay with their guardians to avoid the brutality that their parents either go through or make them go through, children with parents serving jail time. Some kids have homes not suitable to live in. The children of his academy are mostly from Muslim Ghettos.
Umeed Academy’s vision Wali envisions creating leaders who in turn will become capable to create more leaders. Year after year, Wali hopes, Umeed will produce leaders who will carry forward the legacy of Wali and his academy Umeed.
“Each child that graduates from Umeed shall be an institution builder and a leader. They will leave their imprints in the sands of time,” he said.
Inside Umeed Academy There are no wardens at the Umeed Academy, only house parents who take care of all the needs of the children. From the time of their enrolment to the time they pass out as students have completed their 12th standard ICSE curriculum syllabus, all their costs are borne by the academy including their residential cost, health cost, books, clothing and sports.
The focus is on the holistic development of girls and boys. For their spiritual growth, they are taught Quran and Islamic values.
The children are taught regular subjects of the school curriculum which is ICSE and apart from that, they are taught self-defence, drawing, sports, Quran, Hadith and ethics. They are encouraged to participate in many activities conducted in their academy.
Class room in Umeed. | Picture by arrangement
“The transformation in the children is visible. They are all so disciplined and neat that despite sharing common toilets and bathrooms, they keep it all clean,” Wali says proudly, adding, “Ask them to recite the Duas (prayers) of eating, sleeping, going out, going to the toilet, or when it rains, they will recite it.”
The house parents bring up these children as they would bring up their own, insists Wali. He also does his bit by interacting with the children every day, listening to them, talking to them and thus making strong the bond they share.
The core team members, who are his well-wishers not only guide him but also help him make the right decisions.
Asma Alam, director of Umeed, Ghazala Imam and Yusuf Haque who taught Wali at school are now part of the core committee. Others who have joined his mission are an army veteran Abhishek Mukherjee, educationists Shabana Anwar, Usha Banerjee and Mufti Anwar Khan Sargiroh.
Wali Rahmani, with his staff and children of his academy. | Picture by arrangement
Awards and recognitions Wali Rahmani has appeared in various national television debates and is perhaps the youngest Indian TV debate panellist.
He says that his work for society is not social work, but “his social duty.” He has been awarded the young social Hero award in 2019 at the South India NGO conference. He has also been featured as one of the young top 20 achievers in India under the age of 20 by Mumbai Coworking, and also received the Shan-e-Hindustan award by Youth Ekta Front, Delhi. His work has been acknowledged and featured by India Times, Brut India, and the Indian Express.
Many prestigious institutes and organisations have invited applications from Wali to apply for the awards but Wali Rahmani says “his work should speak for him,” and does not believe in applying for any award.
“The ultimate award will be when these children grow up and lead the nation and establish peace and harmony around them,” he said.
Future of Umeed Wali Rahmani’s work has earned him recognition and respect and people have come forward to sponsor the students in whatever way they can. One generous donor has donated 2 Acre (87120 square feet) of land to Umeed Academy worth Rs 2 Crore.
Wali has plans to construct fully functional hostels on the land for students with separate dormitories for boys and girls, a housing facility for the staff members and a campus which can accommodate approximately 600-700 students at once.
The construction work has started and the cost of the entire project has been approximated at Rs 13.5 crores. Wali intends to complete this work within the next two years and requests donations for his lofty mission through donations.
The ‘Second Life – Because Little Lives Matter’ initiative was launched in Bengaluru on November 15 by Dr. Nitish Shetty, Regional Director, Karnataka and Maharashtra Cluster; Farhan Yasin, Regional Director, Kerala and Oman Cluster; and Devanand K.T., Regional CEO, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Cluster
A 24X7 multi-lingual helpline has been set up to manage enquiries
To mark Children’s Day, Aster Hospitals in India launched the ‘Second Life – Because Little Lives Matter’ initiative.
The year-long initiative is aimed at supporting the medical treatment of disadvantaged children. The aim is to facilitate free paediatric surgery for at least 100 children below the age of 12 years.
Throught this initiative of Aster Volunteers Global CSR, the company wants to extend help to deserving children who are being treated across Aster Hospitals based in five States in India. This includes common childhood illnesses, such as appendicitis, intussusception, empyema and paediatric urology surgery, as well as complex clinical surgeries, including bone marrow transplant, liver transplant and heart surgery.
The initiative was launched in Bengaluru on November 15 by Dr. Nitish Shetty, Regional Director, Karnataka and Maharashtra Cluster; Farhan Yasin, Regional Director, Kerala and Oman Cluster; and Devanand K.T., Regional CEO, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Cluster.
The treatment will be funded either by Aster DM Foundation, philanthropists or NGOs.
The foundation has established the criteria to identify eligible cases for the program. Applications will be assessed on the socio-economic status, BPL category, medical outcome of the child prior to commencement of selection and subsequent treatment.
A 24X7 multi-lingual helpline (+91 9633620660) has been set up in Kozhikode in Kerala to manage enquiries.
The young doctor arranges transport for those living in remote areas, holds regular health camps, reports Pranab Mondal.pix
West Bengal :
As a junior doctor at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, Dr Golam Ahmed Kibria became overwhelmed by the heart-wrenching ordeals of the underprivileged patients admitted here. “After joining the service, I saw how the poor had to suffer after a nationwide lockdown was announced last year to reach the state-run hospital in Burdwan. Many failed to turn up at the hospital because they couldn’t arrange for vehicles,” said Dr Kibria.
Witnessing these unfortunate circumstances reminded him of a line from the customary oath that medical students take: “I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to the service of humanity.” So Dr Kibria decided to start doorstep healthcare services for the marginalised. After his duty hours, he would organise free health camps in remote pockets of the district and even distribute free medicines.
“In a camp at Memari held on last October 4, I saw a three-and-a-half-year-old child suffering from frequent convulsions and his illiterate parents were helpless. I immediately made all arrangements to get the child admitted to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital where it was detected that he was suffering from Sturge-Weber Syndrome, a rare congenital neurological and skin disorder.” The child was discharged after he recovered.
Dr Golam Ahmed Kibria (in white tee) with underprivileged patients.
In another camp, a woman in her early 60s turned up. “She was not in a position to move because of severe orthopaedic disease. Her family said they had gone door-to-door of rural hospitals but none could cure her. The orthopaedic surgeons at our hospitals identified the exact problem and gave her proper treatment,” he said.
Dr Kibria hails from Mohabbatpur village, Malda, which means a ‘hamlet/town of love’. His act of serving the poor reflects the meaning of his ancestral village’s name. He is the first male in his village to have cracked the medical entrance examination. “Treating patients with different ailments is not possible as a junior doctor. But I ensure their transport to the district hospital with the help of my colleagues, so that needy patients get speedy treatment and necessary pathological tests done,” said Dr Kibria, who organises two free health camps every month.
Realising he needs more man-power to serve the poor, Dr Kibria recently set up a welfare organisation called Prayas. It has 163 members and over 160 doctors. “We also provide rations and financial support to get daughters of poor families married off. Helping every poor person is beyond our capacity. But we try to reach the families who are in deep distress. We have already spent over `11 lakh for this purpose,” he said.
The 26-year-old doctor and his team even reached the areas ravaged by Cyclone Yash in West Bengal. “We held many camps in the affected areas and distributed free medicines. I do it all for the people of my country as my duty,” Dr Kibria signs off.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Pranab Mondal, Express News Service / November 07th, 2021
On the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi, muslim community members under the patronage of Jumma Masjid Trust Board organized a blood donation camp at Hazrat Khudus Saheb Eidgah (Khadriya Masjid, Bengaluru), Crescent School in Basavangudi and Chirayu Hospital in Thanisandra on Tuesday.
Over 500 hundred units of blood were collected during the camp through Jeevaraksha Blood Bank, Mediscope Hospital and St Philomenas Hospital.
The camp was organized in association with Emergency Response Team (ERT) Bengaluru, Karol Foundation, Zubeida Sulaiman Charitable Trust and Sunni Jamiyat-Ul-Ulama All Karnataka among others.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – October 19th, 2021
AS they say – think individually, act globally – BENFA is doing just that. BENFA (Bengaluru Friends Alliance) was born with the common goal and the collective efforts of a group of doctors to help the underprivileged section of society. The organization extends financial help to the poor and helps them overcome their financial hurdles in education and healthcare.
Talking about the organization Dr. Saleem Mehkri, Vice President and Trustee, said, “We were already into helping poor Muslim population with their education and health issues.
Then, it was planned by Dr. Suhel Pasha to establish an umbrella organization to facilitate their charity works on a large scale. The organization primarily addresses a large number of poor Muslims and deserving non-Muslims, too.”
Dr. Suhel Pasha, President, BENFA, said, “Twenty percent of the city’s population lives in slums with the lowest standard of education, inefficient healthcare, lack of necessities, and most importantly low standard of living. Even today, one-third of the slum dwellers fall below the poverty line with an income of less than Rs. 2500 per month. So, to help these poor populations, BENFA was established in October 2020.”
BENFA is a registered charitable trust focusing on education, healthcare, and socio-economic empowerment of underprivileged parts of society. How BENFA assists in empowering the disadvantaged? Answered Abdul Mateen, BENFA General Secretary, “We have recently launched a micro-credit scheme to provide loans to the deserving women and men to start their small trades. The loans we give are free of interest. So, they have to return only the principal loan amount without any interest.”
Dr. Saleem informed, “We have launched schemes not only to empower poor men and women financially, but we also aim to empower them through adult education schemes. We provide education and training to unemployed youngsters/adults as per their skills and help them get government or private jobs. We have helped students to pay their fees and paid hospital bills too.”
According to Dr. Saleem, around five people are benefitted every week through their microcredit scheme. So, how does the organization arrange its finances? Replied Dr. Saleem, “We have around 500 members, including 400 male members and 100 female members, who voluntarily contribute and help run the organization successfully. Nobody is forced to contribute.”
Besides these programmes, BENFA actively distributes rations during Eid-Ul-Fitr, performs Qurbani/sacrifices during Eid-Al-Adha, and distributes meat amongst low-income families. Furthermore, BENFA has several groups focusing on different areas, namely-BEEP for education, BHCP for healthcare, BSSP for socio-economic support, BMCS for microcredit schemes, and BALP for adult learning programs.
That is not all. BENFA is slowly and steadily adding more to its activities for the betterment of society. Lately, in collaboration with the field experts, BENFA has organized several webinars related to health and education topics. Pointed out to Dr. Suhel, “We organized webinars to educate people on several issues that focus on health, education, amongst others. We also organize career counselling for youth. We invite experts to address the relevant topics.”
BENFA also played an active role amidst the raging COVID 19 by supplying oxygen to the patients. As Dr. Pasha said, “We supplied oxygen cylinders during COVID 19 and spread awareness regarding the vaccine and also organized a webinar to help people prepare themselves during COVID crisis.”
Dr. Saleem urged people to join the organization as members to extend help to a large number of underprivileged people.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home> Development> Features / by Rashida Bakait / October 16th, 2021
In a patient-friendly move to meet community health needs, free Unani medicines were distributed to patients from the lower economic strata by a team of Dawakhana Tibbiya College (DTC), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The free medicines were dispensed during the inaugural of a Unani Medicine Clinic in Jamalpur locality.
“We found that many poor patients were struggling to get medicines. Some of them have been without any income and couldn’t afford the health facilities. It prompted us to distribute free medicines to people in dire need,” said Prof Salma Ahmed (Member-in-Charge, DTC).
She distributed the medicines with the DTC Marketing Team headed by Mr Shariq Azam.
Former Dean, Faculty of Unani Medicine, Prof Abdul Mannan; Prof Shamim Ahmad (Department of Agriculture Management) and Prof Mohd Khalid Azam (Department of Business Administration) stressed that this free medicine campaign in the wake of the pandemic is a big boon for the financially backward patients.
They added that it is our duty to provide the financially weaker sections with free essential health services including medicines.
source: http://www.amu.ac.in / Aligarh Muslim University / Home> AMU News / by Public Relations Office, AMU / August 27th, 2021
On the eve of 75th year of Independence of India, Sahara Medical Center inaugurated a Free Dialysis Services at Hakim Ajmal Khan Dispensary situated in Madanpura – Agripada area on 16th August, 2021, Monday.
It is the outcome of a joint effort initiated by the Late Hafiz Reshamwala, Trustee of Sahara Medical Center and a well-known Social Worker, Rais Shaikh MLA – Bhiwandi and House Leader of Samajwadi Party in Mumbai Municipal Corporation said, Hani A Farid. He said, “On this momentous occasion of 75th Independence Day, We dedicate Free Dialysis Centre to Mumbaikers, specially the people of Madanpura and Agripada. We will start to serve 16 Patients a day and will gradually increase the capacity in the future.”
“Affordable Healthcare gained prominence during this time of Pandemic. Sahara Medical Centre’s Free Dialysis Service is a blessing in disguise, it is totally “Free”. It will serve thousands of patients and will relieve poor families from the recurring health care expenses” said Rais Shaikh- MLA and Member of the Standing Committee BMC.
Dialysis is a recurring expense with each session costing around Rs.800 to Rs.3000 per session in a private dialysis centers and Hospitals. Patients need 3 sessions in a week which is beyond the budget of an average family.
Sahara Medical Center, situated in Agripada is a well-known Welfare Trust serving in the field of Medical and Health with its diagnostic center since last 20 years. It has facility such as X-Ray, Blood and other Tests facilities.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim / by Rehan Ansari / August 16th, 2021
OT is addition to a Primary care, dental chair, Community ophthalmology, NCD Desk it runs for the weaker sections free of cost.
The minor OT, which formally launched on Saturday in Masjid Omer-al-Shifa, located in Saif colony, Shaheenagar
Hyderabad:
In a first of its kind initiative, a primary health care center run by a non-governmental organization (NGO), in Masjid Omer-al-Shifa, located in Saif colony, Shaheenagar has now set up a full-fledged operation theater (OT) for minor surgeries.
The minor OT, which was formally launched on Saturday will have state of the art equipment like surgery table, OT lights, advanced instrumentation, bio-waste disposal process for keeping good hygiene and sanitation for patient safety.
OT is addition to a primary care, dental chair, community ophthalmology, non-communicable disease desk it runs for the weaker sections free of cost.
The primary health care center run by the NGO Helping Hand Foundation (HHF).
All minor surgeries with pre-surgical profile and post op medicines will be given free of charge by HHF to all patients regardless of their caste or creed.
Most areas surrounding the health center have faced inundation last year October and continue to face problems of overflowing drains, nalas and flooding. Consequently, these slums are endemic to water borne and skin diseases.
The HHF in collaboration with AMPI (american muslim physicians of Indian origin), USA, is catering to the primary health care needs for over 20 urban slums since December, 2020.
With an average foot fall of seven hundred patients per day, it was observed that a significant number of patients suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other chronic diseases are having complications that require surgical procedures, which many cannot afford.
As per the survey done by the NGO, three per cent of the diabetics visiting the center had diabetic foot that very quickly translates into gangrene if untreated.
Cases of patients with Corns, Lipomas, Keloids, in growing nails, benign fibroadenomas, burning wounds, sebaceous cysts, non-healing ulcers are were also commonly seen in the center.
So far, 25 minor surgeries have been performed.
“Due to lack of awareness, poor hygiene and non-compliance to treatment many patients are landing in complications that require surgical intervention,” said Dr Arif Hussain, general surgeon at the clinic.
“Once a patient lands into complication the treatment for such conditions is prolonged and expensive and since majority of the patients are daily wagers with little saving, they tend to neglect resulting in devastating consequences,” said Mujtaba Hasan Askari, Helping Hand Foundation.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad News / by Sakina Fatima / August 07th, 2021
