Darul Sukun
Encyclopedia
Darul Sukun in Karachi
, Pakistan
is a home for children and adults that are rejected by society and their families because of a deformity or being mentally challenged. With four branches spread across the city, the one at Kashmir Road cares for almost 150 people. The home has 53 staff members including five sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King
.
Founded in 1969 by Sister Gertrude Lemmens
, the three-storied building has clean and well-lit rooms as well as recreation facilities for those who live there. A physiotherapy room, snoozer’s room, and electrotherapy rooms are some of the basic features of the centre.
On March 23, 1989 Sister Gertrude received the Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam
award in recognition of her work at Darul Sukun and for founding other homes for the physically and mentally handicapped, the aged and homeless. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan
and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
attended the ceremony.
Cookie Lewis spends a lot of time teaching poems and drawing at a Catholic home for physically and mentally handicapped kids. Lewis, who finished 10th grade, is one of just two patients who completed primary school.
Alamin, 27, finished 12th grade and simultaneously completed nine years of fine arts studies. He does beautiful oil painting of natural scenery with his deformed hand.
Mustaffa, another disabled young man, works an hour a day as a special sports instructor at the center. With this part-time job and similar work at another institute for the disabled, he earns almost 3,000 rupees monthly.
The center also sends people abroad to compete in the international "Special Olympics" for the physically and mentally challenged. Jacky Master, who works in the human resources department at Lakson Tobacco Company, won one gold and four bronze medals in several swim competitions. He was born with a brain deformity.
The home is supported by the Dutch people with approximately half a million euro being collected to finance the project between 2004 and 2008.
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
is a home for children and adults that are rejected by society and their families because of a deformity or being mentally challenged. With four branches spread across the city, the one at Kashmir Road cares for almost 150 people. The home has 53 staff members including five sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King
Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King
The Franciscan Missionaries Sisters of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women that originated in what is now Pakistan and founded schools, orphanages, homes for the aged and disabled and hospitals throughout the country...
.
Founded in 1969 by Sister Gertrude Lemmens
Gertrude Lemmens
In October 1939, at the age of 25, Gertrude Lemmens traveled from her hometown of Venray, the Netherlands, to visit her brother, who was a missionary priest serving what, at that time, were the Sindh and Baluchistan provinces of India, but today are part of Pakistan...
, the three-storied building has clean and well-lit rooms as well as recreation facilities for those who live there. A physiotherapy room, snoozer’s room, and electrotherapy rooms are some of the basic features of the centre.
On March 23, 1989 Sister Gertrude received the Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam
Civil decorations of Pakistan
The Pakistan Civil Awards were established on March 19, 1957, following the proclamation of Pakistan as an independent Republic on March 23, 1956. The announcement of civil awards is generally made once a year on Independence Day, August 14, and their investiture takes place on the following...
award in recognition of her work at Darul Sukun and for founding other homes for the physically and mentally handicapped, the aged and homeless. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan , abbreviated as GIK, was the seventh President of Pakistan from August 17, 1988 until July 18, 1993 and a career statesman from the start to the end of cold war...
and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto was a democratic socialist who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996....
attended the ceremony.
Cookie Lewis spends a lot of time teaching poems and drawing at a Catholic home for physically and mentally handicapped kids. Lewis, who finished 10th grade, is one of just two patients who completed primary school.
Alamin, 27, finished 12th grade and simultaneously completed nine years of fine arts studies. He does beautiful oil painting of natural scenery with his deformed hand.
Mustaffa, another disabled young man, works an hour a day as a special sports instructor at the center. With this part-time job and similar work at another institute for the disabled, he earns almost 3,000 rupees monthly.
The center also sends people abroad to compete in the international "Special Olympics" for the physically and mentally challenged. Jacky Master, who works in the human resources department at Lakson Tobacco Company, won one gold and four bronze medals in several swim competitions. He was born with a brain deformity.
The home is supported by the Dutch people with approximately half a million euro being collected to finance the project between 2004 and 2008.