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Spfld. man volunteers in Pakistan

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD One Springfield man believes helping others who suffer tragedy "helps you as a person and a country" and "brings you closer to God because you are working with people who are heart-broken."

Bashir Abdul-Wadud, who put those beliefs into action by volunteering in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, recently returned from a two-and-a-half month trip to Pakistan to be part of the relief efforts following the devastating earthquake last fall.

Wadud is a 1997 graduate of the High School of Commerce and has a bachelor's degree in rehabilitation and disability Services from Springfield College. After working in health care for several years he returned to Springfield College where he earned a masters degree in physician assistant studies.

He had just taken a position as a physician's assistant in the cardiology department of Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn., when he asked for time off to join a relief effort headed to Pakistan.

The International Qur'anic Open University sponsored the American Muslims Medical Relief Team, a team of doctors and other medical personnel who worked out of the Ayub medical Center in Abbottabad.

He paid for his own airfare, and he and the team stayed in a guesthouse near a hospital. He described his living conditions as "not too bad."

Wadud said the level of destruction in Pakistan was in " a scale much larger" than what he saw in the Gulf Coast. There was "more impact on medical personnel" because of there were more injuries involving trauma.

He said that over his time in Pakistan he did see progress being made, but there was a lack of proper medical supplies "things we take for granted here."

In an e-mail Wadud sent to his family, he wrote, "Today we went to the burn unit of the hospital to clean out the cabinet of our medical supplies. It was hard to see some of the patients and their family members because they had this look on their faces. It was as if they wanted to say 'Please don't leave us,' but didn't know how to say it in English. One mother came to me and asked if I could take her child to America. There were a few patients who had been in the unit for a while that was difficult saying goodbye to. They have all been very, very appreciative of us all."

As colder weather set in, refugees would heat temporary shelters with campfires causing an increase in burn injuries, said Wadud.

Wadud also wrote, "many bodies have yet to be recovered. The residential effects of the earthquake, coupled with the delay in treatment, will weigh on the people for a very long time. I'm grateful that God allowed me the opportunity to serve His creation in a time of need."

He has interpreted the disasters in both Pakistan and the United States as "signs from God that we need to straighten up."

"Look through religious history and you'll see cities that have been destroyed by God's will," he added.

Coming back home on Dec. 31, 2005, Wadud found out that his job at St. Francis Hospital had been eliminated and he is now looking for another physician's assistant position. He does not rule out volunteering his services again in the case of a natural disaster.

He said the group that sent him to Pakistan has its "doors open to everyone." For more information on the team, contact Mrs. Najah Begum Amreki, the USA IQOU Public Relations Officer, at 803-526-1271