History of Waseela Foundation By Mustafa Ahmad Khan, Murtaza Bhatti and Abdul Basit Khawaja The idea of being ‘Waseela’ (source to help others) conceptualized when the country went through a disastrous earthquake in 2005, where more than 100,000 lives were lost in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Balakot. Within a short period of time, committed and dedicated professionals, dominated by Chartered Accountants in the country, collected donations vigorously in order to save lives and improve the lives of the survivors. For them, the episode of seeing people in pain, motivated them to be make long term commitments in order to see people in peace, joy and prosperous. They gathered and named their effort ‘Waseela Foundation’ in 2008 and registered themselves with the Society’s Act. Registration was important since it brings a legal cover to your activities. At Waseela we stress at this since it protects the rights of oneself, the people and the government. In 2008, Waseela Foundation took over the management of Shifa Eye Hospital at Kamoke in November 2008. Before that the hospital was being run by Dr. Nadeem Sohail situated at main GT road in Kamoke, since 2001. Prior to November 2008 the hospital was being run on a commercial basis. Waseela Foundation realized that most of the people in Kamoke and its suburbs were leading a below par life and the standard of medical facilities was not adequate. We did detailed homework before selecting Shifa Eye hospital as Waseela Foundation first Major project. The Project was run for 3 years till the end of 2011, with the aid of 6 permanent employees, Waseela Foundation was able to treat 25,000 patients through OPD services and conducted 450 + eye surgeries in order to restore vision in those who could not see. In 2012, Waseela Eye and General Hospital, Kamoke was established with equipment costing to Rs. 2.8 million. The operations of the hospital began in July 2012. The need to run it independently and to make a new hospital was to achieve better quality of service at gratis or subsidized rates for the segment of society which cannot afford such treatment. In the same year, satellite diabetes and general camps were arranged and over 5,500 patients were served in Sindh and Punjab. Till date, over 15,000 patients have been helped through OPD services and over a 100 surgeries have been carried out in the new facility. Apart from being dedicated to eye and general healthcare, Waseela is always ready to step in when a disaster creates havoc. In 2009, during the IDP Crisis in KP and SWAT, Waseela helped 170 IDP families during the crisis which unfolded after the military operation in Malakand and adjoining areas. In 2010, Female and General Medical Camps and Mobile Dispensary Projects treated over 12,000 patients through a campaign launched by Waseela to engage 14 doctors voluntarily in order to facilitate the flood survivors. Rehabilitation and Finance Assistance was also provided to the IDPs in order to go back to a life normalcy. House Building and Refurbishment Project was initiated which served 48 disaster struck families. Moreover, food rations and financial aid were provided to 120 affected families. In 2011, Weddings and Educational Assistance program was launched. Subsequently, Qurbani Project was launched in order to distribute meat during Eid ul Adha to families which are unable to afford nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for their families. Approximately 2,500 kgs of meat was distributed among the needy and poor people residing in Kamoke and Muzaffargarh. 2012 also marked the launch of capacity building initiatives. Waseela Foundation provided main assistance in creating a strategy for TABA Foundation who aims to bring all welfare trusts of Pakistan on one platform in order to put joint efforts in the field of disaster management, capacity building, health, education, skill development and livelihood. Waseela Foundation heavily trained representatives from the NGO sector (those who are members in TABA Foundation) in the capacity of ‘Monitoring and Evaluation & Capacity Building’ Cluster Lead Agency. The first session was held at LUMS where partners were provided training on ‘Leadership’ and ‘Legal, Financial, and Tax Regulations for NPOs’; over 70 participants were trained. Door of Awareness (DOA), Lahore based NGO committed in achieving education for all, was assisted by accounting/finance experts at Waseela Foundation to develop their accounting and reporting system. Their personnel were trained as well. In its capacity of the Cluster Lead Agency for ‘Monitoring & Evaluation and Capacity Building’ at TABA Foundation, following initiatives were executed through the platform of TABA Foundation, with assistance from patrons at Waseela: • Training on Disaster Preparedness and Prevention at LUMS on 9th February 2013. • Training on Leadership and Lateral Thinking at LUMS on 9th February 2013. • Arranging the NPO Session at Sub Apnae Youth Workshop in collaboration with TABA Foundation, Human Relief Foundation UK and Human Appeal International UK at LUMS on April 2013. • Regular Participation at Disaster Management Cluster Meetings held by TABA Foundation in order to draft future plans for Disaster Risk Reduction and for Relief Distribution. In 2013, we stand an important juncture once again and our donors have stood up at the task to become a Waseela for the less fortunate once again. In order to increase the capacity of Waseela Eye and General Hospital, Waseela Foundation’s Executive Committee took a decision to raise funds for the expansion. The primary two reasons of the expansion to be achieved are: - Quick and Quality Service as per the prevalent good practices in the field of medicine and surgery through induction of staff and bringing new equipment for surgeries. - In order to increase the capacity in terms of human resource and equipment to ensure that the hospital is able to accommodate more patients in the future. At Waseela Foundation, we are hopeful and unswerving to ensure that our society, no matter how strong or weak they are, steadfast themselves to be a Waseela for their loved ones and for those who need our care and attention.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 10:45:42 +0000
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