The fling that changed perspective

Volunteering at the National Institute of Child Health, was nothing more than just an internationally renowned certificate for me, before I signed up for it. But the introductory speech by Dr. Uzair was a real turnabout for me.

As, I first made my way through the rusty gates and looked around at the people sitting on the pavement, I felt out of place. This was some view I wasn’t accustomed to. I had no goal but to make it through for seven days and move on with a certificate. On the very first day we were even offered to back out if our main purpose wasn’t the only service; not before we were briefed about the harsh reality of the children there was. The whole experience was an eye-opener. I was made aware of the drift between the kind of lifestyle I lead and the kind of life that these children had at NICH. Even though being of the same age group, they were deprived of everything I had always taken for granted; for Example being, simple sanitary needs. And while handing out balloons to them, I witnessed pure happiness grace their features that I had never felt myself even with the great prodigal purchases I ever made.
Every day we were given certain tasks to do and most of it involved interacting with the children and their parents. The parents would sometimes refer to us as “Doctor” and look up to us as their saviors. They would tell us about their problems and the places they were coming from, seeking refuge from whatever plague that had infected their offspring. The oblivious children fighting deadly diseases and smiling even then, made me come across a world far more magnanimous than my own. On my visit to the semi-ICU wards, I saw parents in the most helpless states and children in the most fragile and vulnerable conditions. Some parents were regretting forsaking their children’s lives by depending on home remedies, some were pumping onto the manual ventilators; holding onto the shred of hope that it will bring their dead child back, others were just waiting for their beloved to come back to consciousness. On our last day, we distributed toys amongst the children that we brought from the money we pooled. And the sheer joy it brought them was more for words to describe. This simple benevolent gesture gave the sufferers’ moments of peace and ease, while it bestowed me with contention and change of perspective. Abdul Sattar Edhi once said, “People have been educated but have not become human” and I couldn’t understand it more than now. I sincerely thank my school for not only educating me but for also helping me mold into a modest human being.

The last day of the volunteering was like a new dawn for me. I emerged from this experience as more moral, altruistic and humble person; passionate to serve the less privileged. And as I made my way through the same rusty gates for the last time, and looked around at the people, I realized that I was face to face with the reality of life, out of the fantasy I lived in till now. And oddly enough I felt like I was a part of them and their struggles. These seven days were more than just an achievement of a certificate; they taught me that strong people stand up for themselves but stronger people stand up for others. And that it’s our humanity that makes us spiritual and our spirit which makes us human.

I sincerely want to pay tribute to the National Institute of Child Health and encourage everyone to donate to their hospital. Because they are providing health facilities to those Pakistanis who can’t even afford free of cost health services since they have to compromise their lives and leave their jobs to stay around for the medical treatments. They are devotedly working towards enlightening and treating the future of Pakistan; by helping both the underprivileged children and us.