Girl leaves for India for heart treatment LAHORE: "Whenever you replace hatred with love, you save lives and that is what fostering love through Aman Ki Asha has done by giving my seven-year-old daughter a chance to live."
With teary eyes, Asif Javed, a shopkeeper from a village near Gojra, said holding his daughter close. His daughter, Faiqa, has been suffering from heart disease since she was six months old. Living in a far-flung rural area, she had little hope to blossom as a healthy child. "I'll be a doctor when I grow up", her words were interrupted by a cough. "Abbu says when I come back from India I can be whatever I want to be, I can even play as much as I want," she said.
Asif, who used to ride his bike 105 kilometers every week to Jhang for her treatment, had done all that he could and was hoping against hope for a miracle to happen when he saw an advertisement in the newspaper. "The mutual healing project funded by Aman Ki Asha has given a new life not just to my daughter but to our whole family," he said.
Leaving for India on Friday morning, to be treated for a punctured heart, a damaged heart-valve and a blocked coronary artery, the little angel dressed in pink looked subdued. Yet, the hope shining in the eyes of her parents was a precious sight.
The free treatment Faiqa is getting is the result of concerted efforts of Aman Ki Asha, a peace initiative of the Jang Group of Newspapers Pakistan and Times of India Group, Rotary India Humanity Foundation (RIHF) and Rotary Pakistan.
Aman Ki Asha, in February 2011, had signed an agreement with Rotary India Humanity Foundation and Rotary Pakistan to provide free heart treatment, including surgery, to 200 underprivileged Pakistani children under the 'Heart to Heart' initiative.
Under the initiative, children suffering from congenital heart defects are sent to world renowned heart institutions in India to undergo comprehensive treatment, including surgery. Faiqa is going to be treated at a facility at The Mission Hospital, Durgapur.
The Rotary Club Lahore also contributed to Faiqa's treatment by funding her travel and stay. Major (Retd) Mujeeb said, "It was an amazing feeling watching the kids gain life through our humble assistance and we will continue to work with Aman Ki Asha for the noble cause."
Asif said the apparent friction between the two countries was a tug-of-war between the political leadership which had not reaped anything for the people. "The people on both sides need each other, want to help each other and they should be given the right to do so. Aman Ki Asha is exactly what the people in the two countries need, interaction and cooperation without involving the governments," he remarked.
Asif Javed, his daughter Faiqa, son Jahanzeb and wife will stay in India for 45 days.

Friday, March 23, 2012

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