CHF held a free medical camp at BK (Bashir Karim) Farm in Gujju Village, Thatta, Sindh, 90km from Karachi. The approach to the camp was a 2km long mud road lined by wild bushes and long, thin bamboo trees. Only a few mud houses were visible.

Presuming that only a few patients would attend, we were surprised when people from two or three nearby villages came who clearly were below the poverty line. Among a total of 550 patients who came for consultation, also came a donkey cart owner, whose worry and helplessness could be clearly seen. In search of help, he brought with him 4 family members who were all suffering from a chronic genetic disorder. Pediatric consultants at the camp came forward to help the donkey cart owner and his family stricken with affliction.

The girl on the cart had also been brought in from a neighboring village. The unassuming owner of the donkey cart did not have much to look forward to in life, but the family were resigned to their fate of waiting helplessly, endlessly. No doctor had seen the patient in years, maybe somewhere in her childhood, and then forgotten. It was when they saw a huge throng of people moving to the CHF Camp following the publicity which had been done for the camp so that the maximum numbers of people could be reached, did they find the zest to also come to Bashir Karim Farm at Gujju village. It is for people like these that the months’ long planning that goes into holding a camp seems worth its while.