Edhi is one of the most active philanthropists in Pakistan. At the age of eleven, he started taking care of his mother, who suffered paralysis from severe diabetes. Many years later, he purchased a small shop from the money he had saved while taking care of his mother, and used the shop as a clinic that dispensed medicine and medical supplies. He learned basic medical care from a friend who was a doctor. He was a simple man, and he would sleep on the concrete outside the clinic so that he was available to anyone who needed help anytime.In 1957, there was a major flu epidemic in the city of Karachi. He acted quickly, setting up tents on the outskirts of the city and distributed free immunizations. Many people, after hearing of his deeds, donated generously. He used the money to purchase the entire building that his small tiny clinic was on. This he used as a free maternity center and a nursing school.
Later, a businessman would donate a large sum, which Edhi would use to buy an ambulance. He would drive the ambulance himself. As of today, the Edhi foundation now has 2000 ambulances over the country, according to BBC Asia. Even with this, he continues to travel with the ambulances when there is a call for help.
Edhi has set up hospitals, the ambulance services, clinics, maternity homes, mental asylums, homes for the physically handicapped, blood banks, orphanages, adoption centers, mortuaries, shelters for runaway children and battered women, schools, nursing courses, and soup kitchens. Outside each Edhi center is a carriage, where women who can't support their babies, or those that have babies outside of wedlock and cannot keep it, can place their child there to be orphaned by the foundation and given free education.
The following is a video featuring his achievements:
