Abdul Sattar Edhi, is head of the Edhi Foundation. Together with his wife,
Bilquis Edhi, he received 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. He is
also the recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize and the Balzan Prize. Edhi is of the
Memon, Muslim community. On September 22, 2010 Edhi was awarded honorary degree
of Doctorate by University of Bedfordshire.
Edhi was born in 1928, Bantva in the Gujarat, British India. His family migrated
to Karachi, Pakistan in 1947 and in 1951 he purchased a small shop where he
opened a small dispensary with the help of a doctor who taught him basic medical
care. Edhi foundation is the most trusted name in Pakistan when it comes to
relief work within distressed areas in Pakistan and the rest of the world. Edhi
foundation is a NON Profit organization that has been in the business of
providing social services like medical care, emergency services, air ambulances,
burial services, mental habitats, old homes, child welfare services, abused
women safe houses and training facilities for the disadvantaged. Edhi's founder
is Abdul Sattar Edhi who established the first clinic in 1951.