O U R Y One last thought O U T H I shall pass through this world but once. Any good that I O can do or any help that I can give to my fellow beings, let U R F me do it now. Now; for I shall not pass this way again. U T U R Stephen Grellet (1773 - 1855) E w w w A public service project: . l Sponsored by r Getz Pharma Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd b t Annual Report 2014 Designed by . Creative Unit (Pvt.) Ltd o r Photographed by g Jamshyd Masud . p k THE LAYTON RAHMATULLA BENEVOLENT TRUST LRBT House, 37-C, Sunset Lane 4, Phase-II, Extension, D.H.A P.O. Box 7684, Karachi-75500, Pakistan Toll free No : 0800-44441 Phone : 92 (0) 21 35396600-5 (Lines) Fax : 92 (0) 21 35396606-35396301 E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.lrbt.org.pk facebook : Lrbt.Pakistan You are the faces of tomorrow, our living dreams of today No man, woman or child should go blind simply because Ourmission they cannot afford the treatment We want to give Our youth is our future but M disabled youth a chance M thousands of young children and teenagers are lost in to build a future by darkness due to impaired vision. 80% of them can be making them cured and they could be the productive, able to hope of their family but due to the high cost of treatment they stand on their feet, look are condemned to a disabled life after their family. and most of them die young. When a father has to decide between feeding his family or taking loan for a treatment which may take a lifetime to payback he usually chooses the first option. LRBT is the only safety net for such people, a beacon of hope. We believe in transforming lives by giving Dis-able them the gift of sight. With unemployment/ underemployment at 20% of M M the labor force competition for jobs is so fierce that blind/visually impaired persons has virtually no chance of getting one thus becoming a burden on their family. LRBT places special focus on visual impairment M M among the young who are the future of our country. It runs school screening programs in schools M M attended by the poor in which not only are the children screened and treated but teachers are also trained to identify children who require treatment so that in the future they can refer them to our nearest hospital even cenario after the team has departed. LRBT, by restoring their sight transforms M M their life from darkness and despair and gives them an even chance for a productive life If common eye defects are not cured or M M the serious ones taken care of in its 60% early stages these young individuals will soon be blind with no possibility Sof our population years or future hope. are below2 5of age In a country where there is high unemployment/underemployment these people have no future Virtually all blind persons in visually impaired 1.8million our country live below the are visually 18million impaired poverty line of existence has focused its LRBT in its 29 years entire efforts in making these disabled persons able again LRBT believes in enabling them to be productive again, able to earn a living and able to regain their Madignity andg self respnect itude It is also the principal cause of blindness in Catarthe woarld. cts are the most common cause of vision loss in youth “I had lost all hope of being able to see again but God had other plans Saleem After his accident he had to stop Saleem remarked “LRBT is a God sent for me.” working and became another mouth to angel and I will remain in debt feed for his old father, a carpenter by throughout my life to their staff for the profession. Due to the paucity of gift of sight. May Allah bless them resources his cataract was left forever. Ameen.” untreated. “When I saw the LRBT Ramzan The family was devastated and was commercial on TV I thought it was going through an extremely difficult nothing but a fraud: an NGO making period but God had other plans for false promises to collect zakaat, but I them. It is truly said that God doesn’t was proven wrong when I visited test anybody beyond what one can LRBT. It is a beacon of hope for poor bear thus this family’s prayers were people like us. May Allah shower them aalso answered. During last Ramzan, with resources so they can continue Saleem saw LRBT’s zakaat appeal on performing such miracles on a daily television which mentioned its free eye basis”, Saleem’s father. care facilities for the poor. He convinced his father to take him to LRBT’s Pasrur Hospital in spite of his observation that these were just false promises made to collect zakaat. M SaleemM is a recent patient of LRBT’s Pasrur Hospital who lost his vision in one eye due to Both father and son were pleasantly surprised to know that all treatment is cataract caused by an accident. He had been working at indeed free. His cataract surgery was a tyre shop since he was very young in order to supplement the carried out and his eye sight is now family income but the combined daily wages of the father & son were normal. Saleem is now back at work barely enough to feed a family of eight members. and the family’s income has increased enabling them to have two meals a day. Shahmeer Khan, aged 20, is another such example whose life has been transformed by LRBT. Belonging to a poor family he lives in a small rented house in Akhtar Colony in Karachi with his parents and 4 other siblings. His father is a mason. ShahmeerKhan The family did not have enough resources only solution but on hearing about to educate him and being the eldest son he their financial issues referred them to started work at a very young age as an LRBT’s Korangi Hospital where apprentice graduating in time to become a treatment for the poor is absolutely carpenter. Last year, during his work free. Shahmeer could not believe his assignment, a nail hit his eye injuring it. He ears: This was the miracle he had was immediately taken to an eye clinic been praying and hoped this would near Lea Market where emergency not turn out to be untrue. treatment was provided. However he was advised by the Doctor that surgery would The very next day Shahmeer and his be needed but the cost quoted was beyond father visited LRBT Korangi and were the reach of the family. Theirs was a hand overjoyed to find that the whole to mouth existence and they had no assets treatment would indeed be absolutely or savings. As his work required perfect free. On the given date his surgery was eye sight, Shameer could not continue successfully carried out. With his with his job. His father became the only vision restored, he was on top of the source of income and as a consequence world. His family’s happiness knew no his younger brother who had been enrolled bounds. Their son had been given a in a neighborhood school on his insistence new lease on life. tdropped out and started doing odd jobs to augment the family income. Shahmeer is back to his job and his younger brother is back at school These were difficult days. Shameer fell again. The nightmare has ended. into depression. His wounded eye was red and watery and he could hardly Every day 8000 patients visit LRBT’s concentrate on anything. Then the 17 hospitals and 54 clinics with pain in his eye became so severe that stories that are as heartrending as he was taken to the hospital again. Shameeer’s. We give them back their The doctor on duty told them that sight, help them to become surgery for traumatic cataract was the productive again. When Samina was in class 8th she did she regain normal vision in her left injured her left eye while playing. Her eye but the unsightly white shiny layer family did not take her to an was gone. ophthalmologist because they just didn’t have sufficient funds. Her Her mother commented on leaving the mother’s income was barely enough to hospital, “LRBT gave my daughter new feed the children and pay for their hope, a new life and a brighter future. I education. With passage of time am very thankful to the doctors, the Samina felt her vision was staff and donors for this priceless gift. deteriorating. The family was already With my limited income I could have under debt and was 2 months behind never been able to afford her wwith the house rent. As her treatment treatment. I will always remember would be an added financial burden, LRBT in my prayers. May Allah make it her eye was left untreated. Soon a grow from strength to strength so that white shiny layer was quite visible in more & more of us poor can benefit her left eye but they had no one to turn from their work.” to for help. Her mother was very worried and kept praying to God for a Samina is in class tenth now and is a Samina Irshad miracle. Her prayers were answered very ambitious girl. She wants to one day when LRBT’s school screening become doctor and payback to society 18, belongs to a poor family and has 5 siblings.