The Wonder Women of Pakistan; Bilquis Edhi was a mother to more than 16,000 babies in the country. She was a nurse by profession who saved lives of many along with her husband the Well-known philanthropist Abdul Sitar Edhi. She was a ray of hope and powerhouse for humanity.
She was the co-chair of the Edhi Foundation. A foundation which runs a hospital, emergency service, orphanages and provides burial services to the abandon dead bodies.
Bilquis Edhi is named among the most influential muslims around the globe in THE MUSLIM 500 of 2022 and was also honored with Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Pakistan’s second highest civilian award), in 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service and the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in 2015.
Bilquis Sahiba established over 300 cradles throughout Pakistan where parents abandoned unwanted children & orphans who she raised with love. One of those orphans is Rabia Bibi Osman, who is proud to be an Edhi baby. Rabia was given a home full of love, warmth and encouragement which led her to fulfil her dreams and now she is an Analyst in Nike. She gives complete credit to Bilquis Edhi for her high education. She got great high school education, scholarships throughout college, internship in NYS Assembly, Bronx District Attorney’s Office, U.S Congress, U.S Senate and went to law school to purse a masters in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Law.
She pens down a heart felt tribute to her ‘BARI AMMI’ on social media. She wrote, “Twenty-eight years ago I was abandoned in a baby carriage at the #EdhiOrphanage located in Karachi, Pakistan. You found me, you named me after your mother Rabia Bano, you forged my identity, then you gave me a home.”
She added “Because of you today…I am a somebody, I have an identity, and I have loving parents to call my own. You fought for woman’s rights, you were an activist, a philanthropist, a rebel for the good cause. You taught me the power of woman, to always have an unwavering sense of self and to be unapologetically ambitious.”
Tears were held back while reading “Because of you, a little Pakistani girl orphaned at birth dared to dream. Because of you I am an independent woman with a graduate level education and a place in the world to call my own. You gave me opportunity. You awarded me a chance to dream, and you presented me with freedom.”
The grieving daughter wrote “To the world you were Bilquis Edhi, but to me you were Bari Amma (Elder mother). Thanks to you I have two loving parents who made sure I had everything a little girl could have ever asked for.”
