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HEALTH: PHYSIOTHERAPY CLINIC

EXPANSION OF THE CENTRE FOR PHYSICAL REHABILITATION  

  The Charity Support Trust Team is pleased to announce the expansion of the Centre for Physical Rehabilitation. With over ten years in service this physiotherapy clinic has served underprivileged patients in the Lahore Baghbanpura, Mughalpura, Dharampura and other areas nearby. In September 2011, the CST team bought and equipped the Centre with state of the art machinery for physiotherapy treatment.

  This List includes:

Wax Bath

T.E.N.S Machine

Parallel Bars

Treadmill

Bicycles

Elliptical Trainer

Weights, and other Gym and Physiotherapy equipment.

  We have also expanded and incorporated a new hall to the clinic that will be used for rehabilitation purposes. Now the those who require treatment will have access to a fully equipped gym area along with a state of the art Physiotherapy Centre.

PHYSIOTHERAPY CLINIC UPDATES 

  Here’s a brief summary statistics for the work at the physio-therapy clinic.

  March 2006 – April 2007 Total patients treated                 - 738 Total OPD sessions                     - 4,238 Subsidised patients                    - 524 Total sessions                            - 3,020 Completely free of cost patients  - 214 Total OPD sessions                     - 1,218

  10 YEARS: CENTRE FOR PHYSICAL   REHABILITATION, LAHORE 

  Started in May 2000 the centre for physical rehabilitation has successfully achieved the ten year benchmark. With a decade to its name and thousands of treated patients, CPR is the only fully equipped physiotherapy clinic in the Baghbanpura area, as opposed to the physiotherapy clinic in a private hospital which is not affordable to the masses.

  Total number of patients treated – 2,378

OPD sessions – 12,943

CPR has treated patients free of charge and others at extremely nominal rates of Rs. 5/- plus, enough to cover the running costs.

  The centre is fully equipped with state of the art machinery, uses modern and effective medical practices and techniques to help people with their respective illness.

The full range covers ultrasound therapy, nerve stimulator, s.w. diathemy , infrared therapy, wax therapy, shoulder wheel, massager, neck traction, lumber traction, exercise cycle, jogging machine, stepping device, hot packs and parallel bar, Separate facilities are also provided for ladies to increase comfort and to encourage females to seek treatment. All these tools and facilities combined help our qualified therapists to treat and rehabilitate patients.

  A concise overview of some of the injuries and ailments treated here would consist of; sports injuries, arthritis, spinal injuries, chest complications, muscle spasms, paralysis, soft tissue injuries, ligament damage and others. Additionally, the centre also diversifies its expertise towards treating general physical diseases where patients are diagnosed then treated accordingly.

  As promising as they were a decade ago our efforts are still directed towards helping people who are financially challenged, giving them specialized care and apex services.

  We would also thank all those who have been a part of this endeavour along the way and look forward to the next ten years.

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HEALTH: EYE CAMPS

FREE EYE HEALTH CAMP, DECEMBER 2008

  Our organization held its annual Free Health Camp in Choti Zarin, Dera Ghazi Khan on the 1st and 2nd December 2008. The number of patients seen and treated as outpatients was 900 and the number of patients that were operated mostly for cataract operations was 88. The whole organization of the camp was conducted in a highly professional and efficient manner by the efforts of the highly motivated and dedicated General Secretary of CST at D.G. Khan Dr Syed Sajjad Sarwar Shah.

  We would like to express our appreciation for the hard-work and professional input of the following Eye-Specialists who worked to make this camp successful: Dr Abduraheem, Dr Javaid Iqbal, Dr Zubair Qaisarani, Dr Rafi Qaisarani and Dr Rashid Qureishi. It is important to mention that Dr Rafi Qaisarani and Dr Rashid Qureishi are both private practitioners and they make time from their busy practices to come and conduct operations in the evenings of both days of the camp, completely free of charge. The hard work and patience of all the para-medical staff that worked from morning till night to prepare the patients for operations and who were lifting them physically needs special appreciation. We would like to share two incidents that took place during the camp.

  The 5-Year-Old

When we were making the rounds of the patients who had been selected for operations in the make-shift pre-operation verandah, we came across a crying, 5 year old child who had been selected for an operation. Appearing quite small for his age and extremely frail, we questioned his grandmother. She informed us that he was a motherless child and had been lying sick at home for two months with a rice grain stuck in his eyes. His mother had died and the father had married again, had other children and was neglecting this little one by not even taking him to a doctor. Fortunately, the grandmother heard of our FREE EYE HEALTH CAMP and brought the child to us. Before the rice grain had gone into the child’s eye, his grandmother had bought him a takhti (a wooden tablet used in rural schools to learn how to write) and he used to enjoy going to school with other children in the village. But since the intrusion in the eye, he had dropped out of school, lying helpless at home. Grateful for this opportunity to help her little grandson, she provided us with all this information. Initially, the child was crying, extremely afraid of showing his eye to the para-medical staff, but due to the effortful persistence of the para-medical and the eye-specialists the child was operated upon successfully and the foreign object was removed from his eye. He was given the clear go-ahead to go home by the doctors. Our organization's proud to say that this was one of the highlights of our camp.

  The Old Lady Without Shoes

Another important incident is that of the old woman. Nearly 90% of our patients are seniors who have suffered hard lives working on the farms. Many of them were weak, skin and bones with hardly any flesh on them. We came across this old woman from a hamlet quite far away from Choti who told me that she had walked all the way from her village alone as none of her relatives accompanied her for her operation. She came without a bedding and so had to share the bedding of another old women whose relative was kind enough to help her. When we met her it was the second day of the camp and she told us that overnight someone had stolen her shoes and she was very worried about how to get home after the operation as she had no money. As we were very busy attending to scores of other patients, unfortunately, we could only help her partially, enough for her to buy some shoes and a pair of dark glasses to protect her from UV rays after the operation. The sight of her face and the fact that she was wearing only two shirts to ward off the cold kept is a haunting aftermath. These and similar such stories make the camp effort worth-our-while.

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SCHOOLS

GIRLS SCHOOLS IN MANSEHRA

 Our girls schools in Mansehra, are now half way down completion. The three schools began in October 2008 and enrolled 70 females, some along with their children. Students are expected to graduate in another six months after examination.

 As we all know, Mansehra is a politically sensitive area, where schools and girls education institutes have been bombed. Many local and international N.G.Os finished off schools in Swat and Mansehra due to this reason. One of our schools in Mansehra was also shut down for ten days and opened discreetly after the sign-board was removed so as to avoid attracting attention. Such activity against educating young girls is very discouraging for the locals and gives us, at CST all the more reason to start more schools in the area, where existing ones have either been bombed down or are shutting down. This is the very reason why we chose Mansehra for our schools, so as to continously encourage locals to educate their females.

With continued support from our donors we hope to open more girls schools in the area.

OCTOBER   UPDATES:   NEW   SCHOOLS

 Dr. Ayesha Saeed shared the good news that we are about to open 5 new schools soon. Two will be in Bangish colony in Rawalpindi where the success of our literacy centre resulted in the request of the women of that area to open more such schools.

 Three accelerated primary school centers will be opened in the Sanda Sarr area within Dist Mansehra where the earthquake left a lot of victims. My children and I visited the one year accelerated school program that is already functioning there in July.

Humair’a and Ismail’s reports regarding the school visit will be on the website soon.

 It was wonderful to monitor the educational progress of these children who had seen so many hardships. Within a period of 3 months, they had all started to read and write basic Urdu and were able to add and subtract from chocolates that I threw on the ground as a Math quiz. We met with the Elder of that area who had allowed us to use his premises for opening the ADO school. It was on his request and from our research regarding the scarcity of schools in this area that we decided to open 3 more schools in this area.

Annie and Asad were responsible for distributing food items to the refugees fleeing the Northern areas in Ramzan.

 Now we have to gear ourselves for the big Annual Camp at the end of November.

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EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

Soil erosion project

  We have received details of a soil erosion project for Kohkot village. This village was one of the worst hit in the whole district of Poonch and we went to visit it myself directly after the earthquake. We built 53 shelters for 53 families of this village.

  NRSP, after consultation with the villagers and their engineering dept. have designed a soil erosion project for this village so as to save them from suffering further damage through constant land-sliding and soil-erosion. Many villager’s homes and surrounding land which they use for crops will be strengthened through this project.

  Money for this project has been collected but we require a further 3800 US dollars to be able to complete this project.

  This is an appeal for raising 3800 US$. Hope friends of the CST can pitch in for this important project. Details of the project can be sent on request.

Government Girls College, Rawalakot  

  November 2006 Update

  This post provides updates about Kalkalan school, Girls college Rawalakot and soil erosion project for Kohkot village. Please note the appeal for funds for the erosion project.

Kalkalan One Year School Programme

  The Kalkalan one year school programme in collaboration with NIRE has completed its third month of literacy training. Apart from the one or two absentees all students (40) have passed their monthly tests that were conducted to monitor their progress. The teaching quality was also assessed and found to be ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory.’

  After the literacy training the students will go on to learn proper primary school subjects such as Math’s, English, Urdu, Science, Geography and History. The aim will be to help them catch up with FIVE YEARS OF SCHOOLING in the next nine months. So wish us luck.

  GOVERNMENT GIRLS COLLEGE RAWALAKOT

  The shelters for the Govt. Girls Degree College for Women have been constructed with the technical help of the engineering department of NRSP Rawalakot. As is obvious in the pictures the shelters are of good quality and will help the girls who are studying for their FA (12th grade) Bachelor’s and Master’s program to complete their studies in relative degree of comfort. The winter is nearly upon them with predictions of severe snowfall. These shelters will keep the students warmer than the open air they were studying in. Thanks to all donors for this important contribution in helping the earthquake survivors.

AWARD GIVING CEREMONY AT HAVELIAN

  We in collaboration with National Institute of Research and Education (NIRE) held an award giving ceremony on the 26th of Nov, 2006 at Havelian. The ceremony was held for distributing certificates and prizes for the teachers and students of 5 centres who have recently completed their 3 month Jugnoo literacy and simple arithmetic programme. It was an honour for us and NIRE to have the guests come all the way from Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar to attend this ceremony.

  The ceremony involved the children and young girls presenting various speeches, skits and a tableau. The tableau involved children acting out various roles in response to Allama Mohammad Iqbal’s poem “Lab Pe Ati Hae.” It was really touching to see these children who had just recently learned how to read and write presenting a whole performance.

The most important part of the ceremony was when the young women and the older women (mothers and in some cases grandmothers) were asked to read out from random selections. It was quite moving to see them come near the stage, but as they had never had the experience of being on a stage, they decided to sit on the ground and read out their selections because that was the way they were used to in their own homes and villages. One could sense their hesitation and nervousness but it was amazing that they were able to read out what they were given to read. Some of them talked of how grateful they were to be given this chance to learn how to read and write.

    During the course of the ceremony we learnt of the amazing fact how in one of the centres, the teacher was the daughter and the student was her mother.

Mr. Emran Akhtar gave a short speech of encouragement to the students. He personally distributed qualifying certificates to the students of the first centre.

These teachers and students belonged to villages which were affected by the earthquake and most of the students were initially living in the big government and UNHCR sponsored tent village set up soon after the earthquake at Havelian for the worst affected earthquake survivors.

The tent village catered for nearly 8000 people, mostly women and children who had no shelter to be able to remain in their villages. We in collaboration with NIRE started 5 literacy centres for the benefit of women and children early in the year within the premises of the Tent Village. The aim of the centres was:

a) To help the traumatized survivors by providing an educational activity which could, first of all, help them to get over the trauma

b) secondly, by becoming literate, the survivors could get an opportunity to have further control over their lives.

The objective was to offset the feeling of helplessness and loss by a sense of empowerment with the ability to read and write and use everyday arithmetic. Moreover respect for the individual in the community (in this case, grandmothers, mothers and children) increases manifold when they become literate.

The successful completion of these initial 5 literacy centres motivated us to start another 5 centres in the Tent Village at Havelian. Unfortunately when those centres had completed 25% of their educational program the Govt. decided to uproot the Tent Village, expecting the survivors to go back to their villages. This was a big hurdle for CST and NIRE as the teachers and students were very keen to continue their literacy program. Therefore, after a need-assessment WE and NIRE decided to start another 5 literacy centres within and around Havelian Town. It meant extra effort and financial input from us but the keenness of the students and teachers was a deciding factor to continue and start 5 more centres.

The award giving ceremony that was held on the 26th of Nov was for these last 5 literacy centres where approximately 130 students mostly women and girls have completed their 3 month educational programs and are now able to read simple newspaper stories and are able to write simple letters. Their program also includes simple arithmetic so that they become proficient in simple everyday math’s for use at home and at the bazaar.

PROPOSAL

After completion of the ceremony women and children came up to us with a plea. The women asked: “What will happen to our children now that they have finished this 3 month program?” The Pakistan government does not have any schools for girls in their villages. Being a conservative society, the girls are not allowed to travel to far off villages to gain an education because of feelings of insecurity. They requested that a one year program be set up for them.

* We are now planning to set up a ONE YEAR PRIMARY EDUCATION PROGRAMME on the same model as the one set up in village KOLKALAN. This provides 5 years of education in one year for about 35 to 40 children from ages 8 to 15. At the end of this program the children get a qualifying certificate which enables them to start attending regular school from class 6 onwards. The competencies gained in English, Urdu, Math’s, Social Science and Science is the same as set by UNICEF standards for class 5.

   The cost of this programme will be US$ 3,500/- approximately.

  * We would also like to start another 5 literacy centres on the same lines as the ones set up this year for more of the earthquake survivors in this same region of Havelian, district Abbottabad.

The cost of these 5 literacy centres will be US$ 2,500/- approximately.

The aim of our programs is to provide quality education to the poorest and most disadvantaged section of the rural communities.

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us. We thank you for your continued support.

  NEW SCHOOL UPDATES: OCTOBER 2009

  October Updates: New Schools

  We would like to share the good news that we are about to open 5 new schools soon. Two will be in Bangish colony in Rawalpindi where the success of our literacy centre resulted in the request of the women of that area to open more such schools.

Three accelerated primary school centers will be opened in the Sanda Sarr area within Dist Mansehra where the earthquake left a lot of victims. My children and I visited the one year accelerated school program that is already functioning there in July.

Our report regarding the school visit will be on the website soon.

  It was wonderful to monitor the educational progress of these children who had seen so many hardships. Within a period of 3 months, they had all started to read and write basic Urdu and were able to add and subtract from chocolates that I threw on the ground as a Math quiz. We met with the Elder of that area who had allowed us to use his premises for opening our school. It was on his request and from our research regarding the scarcity of schools in this area that we decided to open 3 more schools in this area.

  We were responsible for distributing food items to the refugees fleeing the Northern areas in Ramzan.

  Now we have to gear ourselves for the big Annual Camp at the end of November.

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MULTAN COLLEGE OF ARTS

  Multan College Of Arts (Bahauddin Zakaria University) held its first art exhibition on the 21st of Feb 2009.

Our organization was one of the primary sponsors of the thesis show. The primary guests and general participants praised and appreciated the young artists for their spontaneous creativity and expression.

  The artworks included graphic design, sculptures and oil paintings that focused on the culture and theheritage of Multan. The art pieces were commendable given that their creators were fresh university graduates who seemed to be grounded with their culture. Dr. Zafrullah (V-C) said the students had done a great job and every art piece depicted maturity of work and professionalism.

A very large number of art lovers turned out to attend the show and people from all walks of life kept pouring in after the opening. Dr. Zafrullah was very thankful to our organization for all the effort it had put in to hold/sponsor the show.

  The most appreciated work was produced by a student from the design department Umair Iqbal, his work was based on Ten Legends Of Multan and the presentation was done by showing the visuals of these legends. His idea of getting a book published was very well appreciated by the visitors and faculty members.

On 3rd of March 2009, Ms Tina Sani was invited to close the show officially. She was very impressed by the work of the students and pledged to be a suporter MCA/CST.

CRAFT GALLERIA

 In March, Craft Galleria (keeping the tradition alive) had their first exhibition at Hauze Khas, Lahore.

The team was headed by Fatima Khokar, who is also the Director of Multan College of Arts and the students consisted of Sundus Aziz, Amama Farooq and Samia Awan; graduates of BZU.

  Craft Galleria has been initiated to save the dying crafts of Multan and to spread awareness of recycling paper to save trees, water and energy. Our other objective is to give a platform to the fresh graduates so that they would have an opportunity to project their own ideas and come into business and export, focus being on the girl students.

  Craft Galleria has revived the craft of camel skin lamps with organic colors, Okair Sazi (cut work art that was done on khusas). Gift boxes were developed out of recycled paper with Okair Sazi on them.

  Also, new products in ceramic with our tradional colors and geometrical patterns so that we could create souvenirs from Multan. Projection of camel bone carving, dyed with tea and potassium permanganate and many other crafts. This platform gives the artisans the opportunity to work with professional designers so as to create new products that can be marketed abroad.

  The exhibition was a huge success and well-covered by the media, it was also attended by very senior professionals from Lahore, who were a source of encouragement for the students.

Fatima Khokar APPOINTED HONORARY  ADVISOR TO MULTAN COLLEGE OF ARTS

    Khokar, head of Charity Support Trust in Multan has been appointed honorary advisor to the Multan College of Arts (BZU) as of March 18, 2011. For the past 3 years, Charity Support has been associated with M.C.A. Since then, Fatima Khokar has been a source of strength to the students and liaison to the administration.

  In the past 3 years, she has organised exhibitions for the M.C.A. students not only in Pakistan but also in Europe, thus contributing in the promotion of crafts and arts of Multan. She also led a tree plantation campaign and brought renowned teachers and scholars from outside Multan to lecture and improve the curriculum at M.C.A.

  Charity Support Trust is determined to continue its work with Multan College of Arts in promoting the students, the level of education and preservation of traditional crafts. 

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FLOOD  RELIEF:  HOUSES  CONSTRUCTED  IN  JACOBABAD,  SINDH

  As part of our ongoing flood relief efforts, Charity Support Trust has started a housing project in Jacobabad (Sindh) for those rendered homeless in the devastating floods of 2010. However, in disasters of this scale, continuous support is essential.

  With the help of our donors, we hope to expand the project, village by village, to the extensive areas devastated by floods in Southern Punjab and Sindh. Please click on the link below.

  Houses constructed by Charity Support Trust in Jacobabad, SindhFlood Relief Work: Houses Constructed in Jacobabad, Sindh

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FLOOD RELIEF: HOUSES CONSTRUCTED  IN SHEROO BASTI, D.G. KHAN

  Charity Trust Support began the construction of low cost houses in the village of Sheroo Basti (Dera Ghazi Khan), one of the worst hit villages in the 2010 floods, where there had been no relief provided thus far by NGO's or the Government.

  Charity Support started on the houses at the end of 2010, as winter had approached and it got difficult for people to continue living in tents. Our main concern was for widows with small children and couples with daughters.

  CST plans to continue work in this settlement and then move to surrounding areas.

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RELIEF WORK IN MARDAN

 On May 24, 2009 we arranged food supplies for the three camps of approximately 900 men, women and children. Initially these families were settled in camp villages but recently due to rising temperatures have been shifted to schools and college campuses which are empty due to summer vacation.

 Our associates from National Institute of Research in Education and New Century Education, who are based in the camps handed out packages in exchange for copies of identity cards, so as to ensure that each family receives its share.

 The Nazim of Mardan, Mr Shamroz Khan was also present at the occasion.  

 We are very thankful for his cooperation and look forward to working with him.

 Additionally, supply of toys has also been sent by us.

 Our team is now preparing for a supply of story books for children in these camps. We welcome even the smallest contribution made to cheer up these young ones!

  CHARITY SUPPORT FLOOD RELIEF CAMP UPDATE 

 Charity Support held it 4th fourth camp, since the start of floods, on August 28, 2010 at Thatha, place close to Kot Addu. We were requested by the notables of the area, as the place was almost inaccessible due to bad roads and five to six feet of water flowing on to the road and thus was being ignored. At places it had to be crossed by using planks of wood and none of the heavy traffic was allowed to pass through. The only dry land in area was either the road side of the canal or the Dera where we set-up camp.

 Charity Support decided to set up a tent city with 40 tents plus food items that included wheat, rice, lentils, sugar, oil, salt, red chilies, and tea. The food packets would cater for upto 500 people and would be sufficient for a whole month.

 We also set up a medical camp there and provided the affectees with necessary medication. A lot of malaria and skin diseases were diagnosed in the area. According to estimates the number of epidemic fatalities could go up to 5 million in the coming months.

 About 250 clothes items and over 500 pairs of shoes were also distributed among the affectees.

 Previously:

* our 1st camp was held on the August 11, 2010 at Balail, Multan where 200 food packets were distributed among the needy.

* our 2nd camp was organized at Muslim School on August 16, 2010 , Multan, where 550 flood affected people were given shelter, we provided them basic necessities like clothes, shoes, soaps, shampoos, rooh afzah sharbat, dates, dried milk, feeders, pampers and women accessories.

* our 3rd camp set up at Daulat Gate on August 22, 2010( Aam Khas Bagh School). Their basic needs were being catered but the only issue we found was hygiene which was creating a lot of medical problems like gastro, scabies and general infections amongst the residents. Charity Support provided them 300 bathing soaps and 6 large bottles of phenyl.

  Immediate requirement for our next camp are clothes, shoes, medicines (malaria, gastro) and utensils.

Fatima Khokar Multan Chapter August 28, 2010 Thatta – Kot Addu

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RS.100 FOR A CUP OF TEA

  Continuing the description ADO health camp, there’s one story which I want to highlight. It was about regarding a middle aged, female field worker. On the day of the big opening Health camp, when nearly 800 patients were checked, this woman noticed how I was roaming all the sections of the hospital trying to bring discipline amongst the patients.

  Although we had arranged for a team of 8 boy-scouts to help make lines in front of the doctors’ offices as other wise the crowd would not allow the doctors to work, and could even result in injuries, yet the crowd kept getting chaotic.

  So this poor woman with hair in knots and tattered clothes noticed my efforts at crowd control and noticed how exhausting it was, came up to me with a 100 rupee note (nearly 2 Australian dollars, 1.7 US dollars) and said, “Now you take this and take a break and have some tea.” When I said that I can’t accept this, she replied, “When you are doing so much for us, why shouldn’t we do something for you.”

    I’ll never forget the kindness in her eyes and the sympathy she expressed for my dilemma. This was so unexpected, as usually all the patients come up to me busy moaning and groaning that they want instant attention from the doctor and they want to jump the line. I was really touched by this unknown woman’s concern for me at a time when my energies were being sapped by the crowd. For her, a hundred rupees was a big sum of money. Although I did not accept it, I consider it as one of the best gifts ever offered to me.

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REPORT OF CHOHTI ZARIN & DERA GHAZI KHAN ANNUAL HEALTH CAMP 2007

 We organized annual health camps at Choti Zarin and Dera Ghazi Khan on April 10-12 2007. This is a report of these camps.

 Pre-Camp meetings were held April 7-9 to organize the camp. All preparations for the camp were discussed and decided by the executives and members of our establishment.

On the 8th of April the following arrangements were discussed for implementation and smooth running of the camp:

1) Ordering and buying of all Medicines

2) Ordering and buying of all equipment needed for eye-operations

3) Contacting our team of doctors by phone to invite them for the camp and ask for list of medicines.

4) Arrangements for zakat forms to be completed to make sure all patients are deserving.

5) Printing of advertisements and pamphlets announcing the Camp

6) Arranging for announcements of the Camp at village mosques andthrough our own loud-speakers at various bastis/ hamlets around Choti.

7) Printing of our organization's pads

8) Banners with the camp dates, doctors’ names and specialization, and special mention of REDO as a collaborative donor organization.

9) Tent arrangements for providing shade to the patients

10) Water arrangements for the patients.

11) Food and tea arrangements for the volunteer doctors

12) Transport of patients to the DHQ Hospital

13) Food for the patients

14) Arrangements for Boy Scouts to help in patient organization, information and direction.

15) Transport of our organization's Microscope to the DG Khan HQ Hospital.

10th 11th and 12th April Our Health Camp Days

We held our annual health camp in Choti Zarin on the 10th, 11th and 12 th of April 2007.

Patient Attendance

300 female patients and 500 male patients attended the first day of the Multipurpose Camp.

Free medicines were provided to these 800 patients.

The Choti Zareen Hospital was used as the venue of the Camp.

Nearly 70 patients were identified ready for cataract operations.

Arrangements were made for their transport to the Dera Ghazi Khan DHQ Hospital over the three days of the camp for their operations. Arrangements were made for provision of morning and evening meals for the operative patients. Arrangements were made for providing medicines to the patients after the operations.

63 operations were conducted over the period of the camp.

  13th April was the day when many of the patients operated upon were checked in Choti by Dr. Abdur Raheem for a follow up check up. These check ups were arranged by us to be free of cost for the patients. Dates were given to all our patients for further follow ups and check ups in Choti Zareen. Updated check- ups show that all patients are recovering well.

  An anecdote from the Camp

  On the day of the big opening Health camp, when nearly 800 patients were checked, a middle aged, female field worker noticed how I was roaming all the sections of the hospital trying to bring discipline amongst the patients.

  We had arranged for a team of 8 boy-scouts to help make lines in front of the doctors’ offices to control the crowd as to allow the doctors to work and not result in injuries, but the crowd kept getting chaotic.

So this poor woman with hair in knots and tattered clothes noticed my efforts at crowd control and noticed how exhausting it was, came up to me with a 100 rupee note (nearly 2 Australian dollars) and said, “Now you take this and take a break and have some tea.” When I said that I can’t accept this, she replied, “When you are doing so much for us, why shouldn’t we do something for you.” I’ll never forget the kindness in her eyes and the sympathy she expressed for my dilemma. This was so unexpected, as usually all the patients come up to me busy moaning and groaning that they want instant attention from the doctor and they want to jump the line. I was really touched by this unknown woman’s concern for me at a time when my energies were being sapped by the crowd. For her, a hundred rupees was a big sum of money. Although I did not accept it, I consider it as one of the best gifts ever offered to me.

  NOTE OF THANKS

  I would like to thank all the following doctors who donated their precious time and effort to make this years Annual Health Camp successful. We would like them to know that their generosity of spirit is really appreciated by all of us and our donors. I am witness to the prayers of the patients, especially when the bandages are removed from their eyes and they are able to see again.

Dr Syed Sajjad Sarwar General Secretary of our organization and overall organizer of the camp.

Dr Abdul-Kareem the Medical Officer of the Choti Zareen Hospital.

Dr. Javaid Iqbal –Head of the Eye-Department of the DHQ Hospital D.G.Khan,

Dr. Abdur-Raheem- Eye-Specialist

Dr. Zubair Kaisarani- Eye-Specialist

Dr. Rafi Kaisarani-Eye-Specialist

Dr. Rasheed Kaisarani-Eye-Specialist

Dr. Mohammad Yousaf General Physician

Dr. Jalil Kamran-Paediatrician

Dr. Mahmooda- Gynecologist

  Special Note of Thanks for REDO Rawalpindi Eye-Donor Organization for donating medicines for 1000 eye OPD patients, and for providing international quality lenses for 100 eye cataract patients. We will be using the rest of the lenses and medicines over the year for further eye-cataract operations for poor deserving patients.

Special Note of thanks to Sardar Mohammad Omer Khan Leghari Patron in Chief of the our organization (Dera Ghazi Khan) for being our most generous support in terms of putting in time, effort and money to make all our camps successful. He put in tremendous effort to get this camp together despite the fact that he himself was suffering from bronchitis.

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HEALTHCARE WORK - PART 1  

 This post is first in a series which describes the work we have done in the area of medicine and health care. In this part we describe the services provided in Dera Ghazi Khan, a rural district of southern Punjab.

  For health care, we first worked on T.B disease that was identified as a major health problem by the medical superintendent of the area government. We tackled the problem of spread of T.B in the area by providing free 9 months treatment to T.B patients. Approximately 300 patients were cured of T.B in a period of 3 years. Detailed patient records were kept for this purpose.

The cost of this health care provision was approx 1.2 million rupees.

  Health Camps

  In the area of Health Care the organization holds Free Health Camps 4-5 times a year. Two kinds of camps are held:

  a) Multipurpose Health Camps where some of the following specialist care is provided free of cost to people below the poverty line: General Medical, Gynecological, Obstetric, Pediatric, Heart, Eye, Kidney, Skin Specialists.

  b) Eye Camps- We have a team of Eye-specialists who hold 2-3 eye camps a year in and around the major village of Choti Zarin providing free treatment of all sorts of eye-problems. During these preliminary camps the patients who are ready for cataract surgery are selected and a major Eye-Camp is held to operate and remove cataracts. Medicines, lenses for the cataract operations and eye-glasses are provided free of cost.

  Cataracts are a major eye-problem in this dust-ridden, high U.V ray exposure geographical location of Pakistan. Recently, our organization bought its own Operation Microscope for performing maximum number of cataract operations, thanks to a donation by our organization.

  List of all the basic health facilities provided by our organization:

Provision of Gynaecological and Obstetric check-ups and treatment

Provision of Paediatric check up and treatment free of cost.

Provision of 9-month treatment to T.B patients, free of cost.

Providing emergency treatment to deserving cases-free of cost.

Provision of treatment to patients in remote areas through holding Health Camps, free of cost.

Provision of treatment to patients with eye problem free of cost.

Cataract operations with good quality lenses, free of cost.

Provision of prescription glasses for vision, free of cost

Provision of family planning advice, and resources, free of cost.

Provision of specialist check-up and treatment such as Heart specialist, Skin specialist, E.N.T. Specialist etc. free of cost.

Training of govt. medical staff in the district in the area of mental health.

Provision of water–cooler to local Rural Health Centre.

Working as a liaison organization between the medical staff, District Health E.D.O, provincial and local govt to improve health services at rural level.

  REGULAR ACTIVITES OF OUR ORGANIZATION IN DERA GHAZI KHAN

ANNUAL MULTI-PURPOSE FREE HEALTH AND EYE CAMP

We held our annual big Health Camp on the 16th and 17th of March. It was a multi-purpose camp

on the 16th of March 2006 with the following specialists available:

  General Physicians

Gynecologists/ Obs

Paediatricians

Eye-specialists

Rawalpindi Eye Donor Organization (REDO) had donated 100 good quality lenses, along with glasses and medicines for conducting cataract operations for poor patients. We are indebted to them for their continued support.

Last year, we donated an Operation Microscope, which helped to operate upon 80 cataract patients in 2005 with a success rate of 100%. The cost of the operations privately for 80 patients would be approximately 1.6 million rupees.

  Number of Patients The number of patients treated at this camp was approximately 3000. 1400 of these patients were eye-patients the rest were treated by the specialists mentioned above. It needs to be noted that medications worth approximately 300,000.00 were donated free of cost to the general patients.

We operated upon 120 cataract patients in the two days of the camp with the help of 6-8 eye-surgeons on 10 hour long shifts. The cost of 1 eye operation with a good quality lense costs approximately 20,000 rupees.

  100% Success Rate of the Operations

  All the patients were given two post-operative check-ups free of charge to ensure recovery. Dr. Javaid Iqbal andDr. Abdul Raheem, our teams’ two most faithful eye-surgeons voluntary work needs to be commended as they worked extremely hard to provide the best treatment for the patients under the circumstances. It is due to their and the whole voluntary eye-team’s diligence that, like last year, there was a 100% success rate of the operations. This means that all the patients recovered without complications and were able to have clear vision after near or complete blindness due to the cataract.

  Special Thanks:

Dr Sajjad Sarwar, the General Secretary of our organization always manages to get wonderful donations in kind (loads of medicines) from various pharmaceutical companies. He is the moving spirit behind all the health camps in and around Choti. His organization skills are to be appreciated, as without his honorary help none of the camps could be successful.

  Cost of the Eye-Operations

  It is to be noted that to have one eye-operation done in the private sector with a good quality lense costs approximately 20,000 rupees. The cost of operating upon 120 patients is approximately Rs 2.4 million. Read more about costs below.

  Cost Equivalent of Eye Operations

Year 2000: Rs 500,000.00 for operating upon 100 eye patients

Year 2001: Rs 600,000.00 for operating upon 100 eye patients

Year 2002: Rs 700,000.00 for operating upon 100 eye patients

Year 2003: Rs 800,000.00 for operating on 100 patients

Year 2004: Rs 640,000.00 for operating upon 50 eye patients

Year 2005: Rs 1.6 million for operating upon 80 eye patients

Year 2006: Rs 2.4 million for operating upon 120 eye patients

HEALTHCARE WORK - PART 2  

  This post is second in a series which describes the work our organization has done in the area of medicine and health care. In Part 2 we describe the physical therapy services provided, especially for those impacted by the 2005 earthquake.

  We supported efforts of Dr Amir Qureshi in establishing a physio-therapy and general clinic in an area of Lahore (Baghbanbura) where medical services availability is limited and cost is too high for the average resident. Here is a brief review of the services provided by this “Centre for Physical Rehabilitation” as narrated by its director Dr. Amir Qureshi.

  We commenced operations on May 15, 2000 and you will be glad to know that now our patients come from all over town.

  May 15, 2000 – December 31, 2000 General OPD – 689 (without charge patients)

Physio-therapy – 61 total patients,  (6-8 sessions per patient) – 42 (subsidised) 19 (without charge)

  January 1, 2001 – December 31, 2001 General OPD – 977 (without charge patients) Physio-therapy – 117 total patients, (6-8 sessions per patient) - 75 (subsidised) 42 (without charge)

  January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2002 General OPD – 1077 (without charge patients) Physio-therapy – 138 total patients – 77 (subsidised) 61 (without charge) (6-8 sessions per patient)

  January 2003 to July 2004 our operations were limited due to renovation and reorganization. General OPD – 427 (without charge patients)

  July 2004 – March 2006 General OPD – 2,625 (without charge patients) Physio-therapy – 528 total patients – 483 (subsidised) 45 (without charge) (3,919 total sessions – 6-8 sessions per patient)

  Please feel free to contact us through comments and tell others about this facility. We are happy to accept those in need.

  Dr. Amir Z Qureshi , Director Iftikhar Durrani, Physiotherapist

Centre for Physical Rehabilitation 16 Bilal Park, Singhpura Road Lahore.

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AT  WORK  DURING  RAMADAN

  Our work during Ramadan complements the work that we do 365 days a year. We work in various areas that are in the grip of humanitarian crises and we work with communities to provide them with essential aid to help them through these difficult times.

  Under the supervision of Fatima Leghari, our Multan Chapter leader, preparations for Ramadan begin weeks before the month. Every year, our establishment distributes food parcels to hundreds of people, who regularly suffer from food shortages. We have selected southern Punjab as our focus as this is a poverty-stricken area.

  On 22nd August 2009, our organization distributed 200 food packages that benefited at least 200 families in Ballail, near Multan.

Generally, these packs provide one family with enough food for one month.

Before carrying out our distribution, we work with the local community to identify those who need our help the most. Generally these are the most vulnerable people, the elderly, and people with disabilities, widows, and orphans.

This year seemed to be a little more tough on these people as the food prices have more than doubled in the past month.

  We hope to hold another food camp in the middle of Ramadan and continue to support the less priviliged.

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RAMADAN  FOOD  CAMP

 During the month of September 2008, we set up a camp to distribute packages of free food to the under privileged. The camp was set up in Ballail, which is a small village near Multan, as an effort to facilitate the poverty stricken population suffering rising inflation on basic food items. The food packages contained basic items like rice, lentils, sugar, tea and oil. Approximately a hundred and fifty such packages were handed out. The camp also helped us discover people in need of medication especially children suffering malnutrition. After having raised more funds, we hope to help these needy patients and also to hold more free food camps. See the pictures of the camp.

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RATION  CAMPS:  FOOD VANS

  Our organization, with its associates in the Frontier province, has been organizing aid for the Internally Displaced People of Swat, who are camping in 3 camps in Mardan. These 3 camps house approximately 40,000 men, women and children. Right now they are housed in tents but soon will be shifted into school buildings nearby due to rising temperatures.

  We are sending vans of food packages from Islamabad to Mardan, these are personally distributed by our associates to the displaced families.

Each van of supplies costs Rs. 142,000 including the cost of transport. Each package contains’: -1 kg. of ghee -2 kgs. of wheat atta -2 kgs. of powdered milk -1 kg. of soy beans -1 kg of sugar -1 kg of tea -1 box of soluble Glucose-D health drink.

One van load includes 110 packages.

  Our associates in Mardan also arrange for the food to be cooked and distributed. We are also encouraging friends of our organization to send supplies of powdered milk and toys (as children have no means to pass their time).

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First Annual CST Polo  Match

  Charity Support Trust hosted an event at Ham Polo Club on 13th August 2011 to raise funds for the victims of the floods of 2010. The event included Lunch, an Art Auction, followed by a exhibition Polo Match between Pakistan and England.

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Sher Muhammad Wala Girls School

  As part of our vision for education in Pakistan, and especially the uplift and equality of women’s education, CST has been funding the improvement and expansion of a Girl’s School in Sher Muhammad Wala Village, Bhalwal, Sargodha.

  Our aim was to raise the standards of the school facilities to provide the students with an environment conducive to their learning and overall development. As part of these efforts, we have also funded and supervised the expansion of sports field and sports equipment provide the girls with an outlet outside of their curriculum.

  CST also funded and supervised the construction of a library for the girls in order to provide additional resources for learning and improvement. We endowed the library with 500 books and a computer to start with and will continue to make improvements in the library as we move forward. The library is now fully functional and is available for use by the girls at the end of their summer break.

  Our next project is to improve and expand the government school for boys in the same village.