KARACHI: In 2010 when floods ravaged Pakistan, Nuzhat Faruqui, a surgeon at the Aga Khan University Hospital, combined her passion for exploring the country with her desire to help people.
She satisfied her desire to travel by setting up medical camps to help the injured. “After that, there was no turning back. It’s been five years now that I have been doing regular medical camps,” she said. “It started with three doctors going along with the Pakistan Navy and now I have more than 30 doctors readily available for our medical excursions,” she said.
She spoke of her medical camp experiences where she would see mountains and rivers on one side and the Princess of Hope statue on the other, in Balochistan. Faruqui spoke of serving humanity and appreciating nature at the same time, a concept also known as cause-based travelling.
Faruqui was just one of the speakers at the Ignite 3 Karachi, held at the Aga Khan University Hospital and organised by Critical Creative Innovative Thinking (CCIT). The speakers, also known as Igniters, spoke on various topics ranging from medical education to reclaiming the internet in Pakistan. With just five minutes and 20 slides, the 10 speakers at the event rushed to make their voices heard.
“The key to practice empathy is to just listen. Without advice or pity. Just listen,” said Huma Baqir, a third-year medical student at AKU, as she spoke about improving communication to salvage happiness.
The youngest igniter to date is 19-year-old Hassan bin Fahim, a tech entrepreneur and college student who built his first website at the age of 10. He spoke via video call about his website base.pk, which is the world’s first non-profit, free web hosting company.
“There is no restriction as long as you have an idea that is worth igniting,” said Huma Baqir as she invited people to become igniters or become a part of their ignite team for the Ignite 4 that will take place in January 2016.
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