Real Life Stories Details – 2024
My Heart Aches Every Day, Mourning the Loss of my 18-year-old to Asthma
This is just one story; there are thousands of people enduring similar hardships, but their voices remain unheard.
The biggest catastrophe for a mother is witnessing the loss of her child. I endured this agony when my 18-year-old son succumbed to asthma while working in the field during harvesting season. We could not afford an inhaler and he coughed to death. I being a mother and asthmatic patient know how painful that could have been for him.
As a widow, I struggled to afford medications and I had to confront the reality of my son’s lifeless body returning home.
It has been two years since the death of my elder son, but it feels like yesterday. Every
time I see my younger son Abdullah struggling to breathe, the same pain emerges within my soul. The only respite for both me and Abdullah is Mother Child Health Promotion Center, fortunately, located near our house, but a constant fear lingers within me that he could stop breathing anytime. I wish for him to live a long and healthy life, but I lack the resources to contribute anything from my side that could help him recover.
My worries disappeared the moment PAHCHAAN and the doctors called me to the center and provided both of us with the permanent respite through medications and inhalers. In this helpless condition where I could not do anything, PAHCHAAN offered every possible facility for both of us, for which I am thankful beyond words.
Join hands with PAHCHAAN and don’t let people die of a manageable disease.
PAHCHAAN team vows, with the help of our donors, to always stand next to mothers like Rani and young people like Abdullah as each life is very important to us.
Clean Water is the Foundation of Human Health.
As water constitutes 70 percent of the body, human health largely relies on clean water. The dirty water causes gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, and worm infestations in the people leading to malnutrition stunting and even death. Although our Mother and Child Health Promotion Centers (MCHPCs) play a crucial role in providing medical support to underprivileged communities, there is a dire need for a permanent solution to eliminate these waterborne diseases.
PAHCHAAN was the only پہچان for this Girl
She was abandoned by her own family, and being a child with special needs, she was unable to speak.
Every child craves love, and special children, with their unique needs, demand even more attention and care. Only parents can comprehend their unique language and fulfill those needs.
In a recent case, we encountered a 5-year-old special needs girl abandoned at a local hospital in Lahore by her attendant. Struggling with unclear speech and too weak to stand on her own, she found solace in our care during her 10 day stay at the hospital.
To find a permanent shelter for her we reached out to orphanages and childcare foundations but they lacked the infrastructure to
accommodate special-needs child. Through diligent efforts, a highly esteemed foundation named after Edhi foundation extended its helping hand and took responsibility for this abandoned child.
It brings us comfort that we found her and provided solace when there was no one else to do so.
“Let us create a world where every child, regardless of their abilities, finds a place of acceptance”
From Rahim Yar Khan to Lahore
PAHCHAAN’s Role in A Journey of Challenges
Our lives took an unexpected turn when my husband’s leg was crushed in a car accident. This us to relocate from Rahim Yar Khan to Lahore in search of better medical care. The medical bills for his operation were daunting, and with minimal resources, we faced severe financial struggles.
In the harsh descent from factory work to garbage picking, PAHCHAAN becomes the sanctuary of hope.
My husband cannot walk properly even after six months of surgery, and started working as a garbage picker. While the big city has offered treatment and employment to him, providing our children with food and education remains an ongoing task. The debts are stretching from month to month and I am forced to halt their schooling.
I feel relieved that in the time of need, PAHCHAAN stepped in, not only covering medical expenses but also shouldering the burden of their education. They facilitated enrolment in FACES school, a collaboration with PAHCHAAN near Saggian center.
PAHCHAAN steps in not only to address immediate health concerns but to provide quality education to the children.
“My gratitude knows no bounds for PAHCHAAN that not only provided assistance but paved a pathway for my children’s growth”, Rabia says.
MCHPC’s Commitment to ٹیٹنس Awareness
گدھا نہ صرف وزن اٹھاتا ہے بلکہ بعض اوقات کاٹ بھی لیتا ہے
In most of the areas of Punjab, donkey carts remain a prevalent mode of daily commute. As the water source is quite far from the locale, young boys have to travel a long way to bring water to their homes. This additional responsibility of fetching water, often exposes them to physical strain and the looming threat of diseases from animals, such disease are frequently transmitted through the bites of stray dogs, wandering donkeys, and other wild animals.
Recently, an incident unfolded when a 2-year-old boy while standing close to a donkey was bitten. Luckily our center was close by, the first aid was administered there and he was immediately referred to the nearest hospital for further treatment and tetanus prophylaxis.
To break this cycle, there is a critical need for awareness in these areas. People require knowledge about hygiene practices, where awareness of diseases that can be transmitted from animals, such as tetanus and rabies, is lacking. While our Clean Water initiative has already alleviated some challenges within the community, our commitment extends further.
We aim to increase awareness and provide support to prevent such incidents, ensuring a healthier and safer environment for the residents.
From Despair to Hope: A Tale of a Daughter’s Heart Condition
The revelation of my daughter’s heart problem was a bolt from the blue for me. I felt utterly helpless, with tears being my only solace.
My four-year-old daughter used to be dizzy and crying all day. My husband is unemployed and our financial condition is not at a point where we can run the house properly. Later on, thinking about the hospitalization life I was terrified.
I went to the PAHCHAAN Mother and Child Health Promotion Center where my daughter was examined, knowing her condition they referred her instantly to the Children Hospital, but I could not take her there.
Last month, my daughter fainted at my sister’s house, and we rushed to a hospital. The doctors told us that her heart muscles were weak and she had to take medicines for a lifetime. I did not know what to do or where to get monthly medicines.
Then, I went back to the same PAHCHAAN center that initially proposed me to visit the hospital. Now my daughter is receiving all the medical support she needs with only one condition; I follow up regularly to the center and the hospital.
Today PAHCHAAN is providing her daughter monthly medicines and facilities. We hope that she will live a normal life.
Dedication and Hardwork Never Goes Unrewarded
A glimpse into the daily struggles of community mobilizers fighting community resistance.
In underprivileged areas where our centers operate, dedicated female community mobilizers face numerous difficulties during door-to-door visits. In spite of their passion, residents often greet them skeptically, bombarding them with questions about identity and purpose. As a project coordinator Khushhal Khandan, I get to know their experiences.
Despite the resistance from residents, I am fighting all the challenges on my way, resolutely choosing to persist in the mission of saving lives. (Our Community Mobilizer)
Recently, a 22-year-old community mobilizer at MCHPC, dedicated to providing essential healthcare guidance shared an unpleasant incident. On 6 December 2023, she knocked at the door and encountered a man who (due to his mistrust) neither let her take his family information nor enter his house, rather followed her to our Mother and Child Health Center.
She said that due to her fear, a spontaneous thought to quit the profession flashed in her mind. But if she would stop working for her sisters then who else will? She is determined that she will never quit because the goal of her and her organization is way bigger than these ordeals.
PAHCHAAN’s Two More Khushhal Khandan Projects are on their Way
PAHCHAAN’s Upcoming Projects Showcase its Continuous Efforts to Save the Lives of those in Need
For nearly two decades, PAHCHAAN has been unwavering in its commitment to family support across Punjab. Every year, we receive countless stories of children, adults, men, and women finding relief in our centers. We firmly believe that enhancing the lives of families through access to crucial healthcare, psychological well-being, and primary education is the key to securing a brighter future for generations to come.
نمبردار کا کہنا ہے ہسپتال دور
ہونے کے سبب عورت یا تو بچہ پیدا کر
لیتی ہے یا پھر مر جاتی ہے
PAHCHAAN’s humanitarian mission behind establishing the Mother and Child Health Promotion Centers in Malakpur, Saggian Pul Lahore, and Chak-59 District Kasur, is to provide basic facilities. Whether they are in the form of a clean water initiative, Tetanus awareness, the identity for special-needs children, or breaking the stigma surrounding mental wellbeing. Each center aims to benefit more than 15000 families in the community. Our commitment lies in providing relief, especially to underprivileged women who endure immense pain during childbirth. These expansions already show our efforts to bring ease to the lives of deprived people. As we share our relentless efforts, our deepest gratitude goes to the donors and philanthropists. This is just the start of the journey as we further take on the responsibility to expand our services to other underdeveloped areas as well. In this holy month of Ramazan, let us unite to illuminate the lives of the vulnerable people among us.
The Burden of Responsibility on the Timid Shoulders of Grandmother
Team PAHCHAAN remains a steadfast companion, providing social support in their lives.
A few months back, in 2023, a girl Arooj came to the local hospital with complicated typhoid and severe neglect. Concerned about her physical and psychological well-being, we inquired why a 65-year-old woman was looking after a 9-year-old. We guessed it right that she was not the mother, but her grandmother.
Since her daughter’s death during childbirth, her two children became the grandmother’s responsibility. At this weary age, when she needed support she had to raise two young children.
We could imagine how difficult it would have been for her to raise grandchildren in an age where she herself needs a caretaker. Although she managed to bring Arooj to the hospital, affording food and medicines became a challenge she was relying on a meager support of PKR 14,000 from Income Support Program by the government and zakat from relatives. PAHCHAAN not only provided solace to the grandmother but also immediately started a support program in the form of ration and medical support which was much needed by Arooj.
“We are not only Thinking but Working to Make Pakistan Better.”
Recognizing that not everyone requires state-of-the-art health institutions, our emphasis is on providing basic healthcare to the 240 million people in Pakistan who can benefit from preventive services and if sick, can be managed before the need for hospitals arises. Considering that about 2/3rd of the population resides away from urban areas, basic healthcare centers become vital and imperative for the communities.
Our emphasis is on providing basic healthcare to the 240 million people in Pakistan who can be managed before the need for hospitals arises.
Being a child specialist, I firmly advocate for a proactive approach to healthcare through the establishment of primary healthcare centers and community prevention strategies long before people find themselves at the doors of hospitals. Unfortunately, our communities only seek medical attention after an emergency; this is expensive and too often, results in complications. Tragically, lives are lost due to delayed treatment.
Our vision is to create a place where communities are provided preventive and essential medical support, well before emergencies arise. This very vision is the essence of inaugurating PAHCHAAN’s Khushhaal Khandan Program, which focuses on providing accessible and affordable basic
primary healthcare services to mothers and children, starting from Punjab and expanding across Pakistan.
We aim to establish a sustainable community health center that will serve as a crucial link between routine healthcare and emergencies.
PAHCHAAN’s Khushhal Khandan Program focuses on providing accessible and affordable basic primary healthcare services, creating a crucial link between routine healthcare and emergencies, and reducing strain on hospitals and community households.
An Unusual Case of a Child Having no one but PAHCHAAN
This time, we encountered an unusual case of a father who had passed away and the only child was abandoned in an empty house by the mother. There could be multiple reasons for her leaving her 7-year-old son, but the only thing we can think of was poverty and difficult life.
We were happy that, luckily, he had not fallen into any wrong hands and from the day this abandoned child came to us, the first thing was to shelter him.
Today, though the child is in the Child Protection Welfare Bureau we wonder what would have happened if we had not found him timely?
PAHCHAAN, with the help of people who support us, feels obliged to help such children. We are working with the government today, but in this unusual case, we want people to realize that this is what PAHCHAAN works for. We are blessed to have people standing next to us, giving us the courage and freedom to work for such unusual cases.
“He could not stop crying when we talked about his father and mother”
Thanks to our Donors
ILM Power Center expresses its deepest gratitude to the brands for their commendable efforts in manufacturing energy-rich biscuits and other products that contribute to the physical and mental nourishment of growing children.
Our mission is to provide free education to children from underprivileged backgrounds. Many of these children face nutritional challenges, and for them, a simple pack of biscuits or a piece of a cupcake is a luxury beyond their means.
We are immensely thankful for the generous support we have received from kind-hearted people and organizations like Continental Biscuits Limited and Shangrila Foods. Your support has undoubtedly played a crucial role in helping these children learn and grow with sound bodies and minds. We look forward to the possibility of making a lasting difference in the lives of these young learners.
At ILM Power Center, these contributions, whether big or small, play a vital role in shaping a better future for children who face nutritional challenges on their educational journey.