Karachi:
Eight years after his death, the legacy of Dr. Ruth Pfau, the doctor born in German who dedicated his life to eradicating leprosy in Pakistan, continues to inspire and serve thousands throughout the country.
Known as the “Mother Teresa” of Pakistan, Dr. Pfau dedicated more than five decades to the care of those rejected by society. Born on September 9, 1929 in Leipzig, Germany, World War II lived before moving to West Germany to study medicine at the University of Mainz. In 1960, on the way to India, he was stranded in Karachi due to visa complications. The difficult situation of patients with lepros who found here changed the course of his life.
In 1963, he established the First Pakistan Lepra Treatment Center in McLeod Road in Karachi, which evolved towards the center of Lepra by Marie Adelaide (MALC). Today, Malc operates 157 centers throughout the country, offering treatment to more than 57,000 patients. Over the years, their services have expanded to maternal and child health, tuberculosis care and support for visual disabled and physical problems.
The colleagues remember that Dr. Pfau’s compassion extended beyond medical treatment. I would personally visit remote areas, sit and eat with lepers, and even inspect their kitchens to understand their economic conditions, often organizing financial aid for homes or small businesses. “He never felt rejected,” said the Malc CEO, Maron Lobo, remembering how Dr. Pfau would share tea and cookies with the same hands that had dressed infected injuries.
His humility was legendary. He traveled in vans, walked to the church and avoided the official protocol. She was in the front line during the efforts of the 2005 earthquake, the floods of 2010 and the relief efforts of drought in Baluchistan. His humanitarian work earned him several national honors, including Hilal-E-Pakistan and Hilal-E-Imtiaz. Germany awarded the Bambi award in 2012, where he remembered the audience: “At this time, it is midnight in Pakistan, and many children will go to sleep hungry. Your world is not my world.”
Dr. PFAU died on August 10, 2017, after prolonged disease, becoming the first non -Muslim woman in Pakistan to be buried with state honors. The Karachi Civil Hospital now bears his name, and his former residence has become a museum.
For the patients who hugged when no one else would, and for the nation she chose as a home, Dr. Ruth Pfau remains a self -sneakers, a legacy that lives far beyond her years.
