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
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
Peace hankies and more: A page from my diary
By Zain Hasan
May 13, 2010: Today I spent some hours with the students of a community school where I also had studied. - Akhtar Academy in Nazimabad. It was .....more
May 13, 2010: Today I spent some hours with the students of a community school where I also had studied. - Akhtar Academy in Nazimabad. It was .....more
Pak-India business leaders mull ways to enhance trade, economic ties
'Building economic links to help address development problems'
By Amir Zia
NEW DELHI: Prominent business and corporate leaders from Pakistan a .....more
By Amir Zia
NEW DELHI: Prominent business and corporate leaders from Pakistan a .....more
Pranab calls for increased India-Pakistan trade
NEW DELHI : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday pitched for increased trade with Pakistan, saying it would help reduce tensions between the two neighbours and b
.....more
NEW DELHI : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday pitched for increased trade with Pakistan, saying it would help reduce tensions between the two neighbours and b
.....more
Business leaders say chances of war recede when financial interests converge
By Shahnawaz Akhter & Saad Hasan
KARACHI: Pervez Said, a Pakistani banker, has always gone along easily with his Indian counterparts. Whenever the South Asians had .....more
KARACHI: Pervez Said, a Pakistani banker, has always gone along easily with his Indian counterparts. Whenever the South Asians had .....more
Aman ki Asha 'handkerchiefs for peace' at Ladybird Grammar School, Karachi
Karachi, May 17: Passionate and enthusiastic students of Ladybird Grammar School, their faces alight with the spirit of spreading the message of peace and harmony assembl
.....more
Karachi, May 17: Passionate and enthusiastic students of Ladybird Grammar School, their faces alight with the spirit of spreading the message of peace and harmony assembl
.....more
Aman ki Asha: Pak delegation reaches New Delhi
NEW DELHI (Mahmood Sham): A Pakistani delegation has reached New Delhi on Monday to take part in a business seminar organized by Jang Group and Times of India under " Ama
.....more
NEW DELHI (Mahmood Sham): A Pakistani delegation has reached New Delhi on Monday to take part in a business seminar organized by Jang Group and Times of India under " Ama
.....more Page 154 of 175
Special Editions
more editions
The News on Sunday Special Report: India Pakistan prisoners
We probably didn't need to do this Special Report. Newspaper stories don't matter when it comes to Indians in Pakistani jails and vice versa. In fact, 'vice versa' sums it up. We do to them what they do to us.
Except when the two countries decide to begin talking, yet again! This time a little before the foreign secretary level talks, some Pakistani prisoners were released by India (and vice versa must have happened) and some more were release....read more
Blog
more
For the past 2 years the Jang Group and Geo have been working on a project of great national interest; one that we hope will help usher in an era of peace and prosperity in the country and indeed, in the region. And one that hopefully all Pakistanis can be proud of.
The Jang Group has entered into an agreement with the Times of India Group, the largest media group of India, to campaign for peace betw
Global Media
Comments