In 2005 I had the unexpected privilege to live for a year in what turned out to be the most beautiful and hospitable country I’ve ever visited. I’m sure each of you, have heard my parents or I at some point talk about the incredible people and places of Pakistan, we are big fans.
I am asking you to please donate whatever amount you can. I have researched many charities to determine what I believe to be the most efficient, honest and accountable. Lubna Hassan, the wife of a dear friend of mine in Pakistan, is a prominent gynecologist and is raising money to care for pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Here is her story.
Lubna, a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, (FRCOG) London, is currently Head of Department of OB/GYN at the Post graduate Medical institute in Peshawar, Pakistan and President of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Pakistan(SOGP), Pakistan's equivalent of FIGO.
The SOGP is the oldest professional body in Pakistan but mainly has been an academic body focusing on training etc. The string of calamities that have befallen Pakistan in the last 5 years have forced us into our present humanitarian activities. Lubna has worked with the victims of two other major calamities including the earthquake in October 2005 and than the mass displacement of thousands of people from the Swat valley due to military action against the Taliban. Both disasters effected principally the northern province of Khyber Pukhtoon Khwa (KP) where a lot of support came from the rest of Pakistan. This time round the whole country is effected and so there is little chance of cross provincial support.
As a society of specialist gynecologists representing the whole of Pakistan our main concern is to provide quality care for pregnant and lactating women and their newborn babies they are the most vulnerable group and are often overlooked in the initial phases of any calamity. While other humanitarian agencies are busy providing shelter,food and clean drinking water we have taken a lead role in focusing on the health and well-being of women and children. According to the UN 20 million people are effected by the floods in Pakistan. It is estimated that roughly 3-4 % are pregnant women, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of lactating mothers and the small children .
