Book & Author
Zia Mutaher: Serving the Unserved — A Biography of Dr Ruth Pfau
By Dr Ahmed S. Khan
Chicago, IL
“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”
If I were to be reincarnated, I would like to be in Pakistan again.”
Dr Ruth Pfau (September 9, 1929: Leipzig, Germany – August 10, 2017: Karachi, Pakistan) spent fifty-five precious years of her life in the service of the poor and leprosy patients. During those testing times she also faced many obstacles and challenges. She sacrificed her country, her family, her life and her comfort to serve the unserved. She established Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC), the largest NGO in Pakistan, to control Leprosy all over Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and Afghanistan.
During the past five decades MALC has established the required infrastructure using 157 Leprosy clinics, which offer free treatment and rehabilitation services funded by the German Leprosy Relief Association (DAHW).
Dr Pfau employed innovative medical approaches which allowed a systematic and efficient delivery of health services. Thanks to her untiring efforts, Pakistan became the first country in the region to overcome this disease in 1996. According to Marvin Francis Lobo, chief executive officer of the Mary Adelaide Leprosy Center (MALC), "It cannot be said that leprosy has been completely eradicated from Pakistan. It may take a few more decades to reach this level. " According to him, there are still 300 to 400 new cases of leprosy in Pakistan every year, out of which 40% are people whose family members have had the disease before. Forty percent of the new cases are in Sindh. After controlling leprosy in Pakistan, Dr Pfau used her clinics all over the country to work for Tuberculosis Control & Prevention of Blindness.
Dr Pfau faced many obstacles in helping her patients. She rescued many disfigured and disabled suffering kids who were confined to caves and cattle pens by their parents, who thought their kids had a contagious disease. She also had to deal with the issue of class divisions. Majority of her patients were poor. Lack of basic sanitation and malnutrition led to their weakened immune systems failing to fight off the bacteria. Administering antibiotics was not the only challenge she faced; many patients ended up with missing limbs and had to learn new ways of living. They faced discrimination due to their disabilities and because of people’s ignorance about the transmission of the disease.
Like the prominent scholar Dr Annemarie Schimmel, Dr Ruth Pfau was also a bridge builder between nations - Pakistan and Germany, and between religions - Islam and Christianity. She received many accolades for her work including Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Pakistan, 1979), Hilal-e-Pakistan (Pakistan,1989) and Staufer [Gold] Medal (Germany, 2015). She wrote four books in German about her work in Pakistan, including To Light A Candle, which has been translated into English. She trained numerous Pakistani doctors and nurses and raised funds with the help of her friends in Germany to found Pakistan's National Leprosy Control Program (NLCP) and the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC).
In “Serving the Unserved — A Biography of Dr Ruth Pfau,” Dr Zia Mutaher, narrates the fascinating story of Dr Ruth Pfau, a German gynecologist and nun who dedicated her life to eradicating leprosy in Pakistan. The author presents her stories of trials and tribulations — arriving in Karachi and establishing a medical clinic to traveling all over Pakistan and Afghanistan to find leprosy patients and treating them — in fourteen chapters: 1. Bougainvillea Not Roses, 2. Blue Smiling Eyes, 3. The Green Garden Gate, 4. Falling in Love, 5. From Paris to Karachi, 6. The City of That Unfaithful, 7. "... And at Night the Rats Attack", 8. Adventure in the Air, 9. Pearls of Friendship, 10. A Peep into the Cave, 11. Surviving to Serve, 12. Salt in the Dough, 13. Some Personal Words, and 14. Walking Together.
In the first chapter “Bougainvillea not Roses,” the author describes her arrival in Karachi: “An 'Alitalia' flight lands at Karachi airport, on a sunny afternoon of March 8, 1960. White skinned Europeans coming all the way from Paris, start trickling out. One of them is Ruth Pfau, a thirty-year-old German novice, who has come here on her way to India. Her small luggage is accompanied by the three vows she has taken during her one years' noviciate, at the convent of the 'Daughters of the Heart of Mary' in Paris. The vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Her order founded by Marie Adelaide of France (1749-1818) during the French Revolution, does not bind her to wear the traditional nun's habit or to live a life of seclusion. The commitment is to work against misery, wherever in the world. Carrying a degree in Medicine from a University of Germany, she has received requests from both India and Pakistan to come and serve. She has acceded to the request from her community in Karachi, only in the hope of acquiring an Indian visa from here. From the airport she is driven to the girl's hostel at Guru Mandir, at walking distance from the mausoleum of the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. On the way she has noticed the bougainvillea hedges along the roadside and mistaken them for roses. Attired in a warm winter coat she finds the sweltering heat of tropical Karachi unbearable. Exhausted by her long journey, she feels sick and hungry. But Mother Mary Doyle, the superior at the hostel, insists that she attends a prayer session, before the meal. Her first day in Asia is grueling. The night is spent fighting the oppressive heat and the noise of a radio, blaring on the other side of the half-partitioned room. A drowsy Ruth finds Pakistan not to be a very hospitable land. During the ensuing weeks, she finds herself tongue-tied and bored. The elementary English she had learnt at her school in East Germany, stands forgotten. The smattering of French that she has picked up during her stay in Paris, enables her to communicate with Berenice, a pharmacist from Mexico and besides Ruth, the only non-American in the group. Berenice is fluent in French besides Spanish, which is her mother-tongue. It takes Ruth three weeks to revive her proficiency in spoken English. Then one day, Berenice invites her to come along to the 'McLeod Road Lepers' Colony', off Karachi's main commercial artery. On this fateful day in 1960, Ruth Pfau decides to stay in Pakistan, to serve the ones unserved and whom no one else would ever serve.”
Reflecting on Dr Pfau’s selfless service and dedicated work, the author observes: “She had never ever asked for a special favor in her life, not even an extra cup of tea. She never bought an additional dress for herself. Whatever she wore was a gift, either from a friend or a sister in the community or an occasional patient, pleased with his or her recovery and whose heart she wouldn't choose to break, by refusing. Even the gold medals that she had received, had all been melted and become part of dowries, for marrying daughters of poor leprosy patients.”
The author also describes in detail the help Dr Pfau received from: her close friend Mrs Waltraud Schreiner in generating millions of Deutsche Marks in Germany; a young and elegant Pakistani dermatologist, Dr Zarina Fazelbhoy; and a Mexican pharmacist, Berenice, at local level in Karachi, for the establishment of required infrastructure for controlling leprosy in Pakistan. The author also narrates stories of how Dr Pfau helped people suffering from leprosy: after the 1965 War (in Pakistan), after the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War (Biharis coming from East Pakistan), and after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Afghan refugees in Pakistan).
Reflecting on her search for the eternal truth, the author states: “In the book 'To Light a Candle' she raises the question, 'Is it possible for two religions, each claiming to confess Eternal Truth, to engage in any meaningful dialogue? I have no answer to this question. I can relate only living experiences.' She then goes on to narrate her impressions of a visit to the Badshahi Mosque at Lahore, built by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1674, opposite the Fort. She went there with the eminent lawyer, Allah Bukhsh Karim Brohi. `I was visiting it with a Muslim friend. As we walked in silence, through the cool, quiet arcades, fascinated by the intricately carved ornamentation on the walls, I stepped suddenly into the central courtyard. Vast, empty. A sense of infinity. And the three cupolas, like a cluster of pearls above the mehrab — seemingly far beyond. The unfathomable mystery of the One, The Only, in whose honor the mosque had been erected — it suddenly stunned me, overwhelmed me. That the One Incomprehensible should have deigned to reveal Himself in such a way to mortal man! I had to muster all the willpower of my Western upbringing to prevent myself from succumbing to the overpowering urge to fall on my knees and burst into tears. A grace which came to me in the presence of my Muslim friend. A grace which has forever left its imprint on my spiritual life.'”
In the Chapter titled “Blue Smiling Eyes,” the author describes her early years in pre WWII Germany: “Born Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau on September 9, 1929 to Martha and Walther Pfau, she was the fourth of five daughters. Their only brother died in infancy. Walther Pfau was a manager in a publishing company, in Leipzig (Eastern Germany). Since time immemorial, Leipzig had been a center of the publishing industry. Its annual book fair, held every March, was an established event. The University had been founded as early as 1409. In 1913 the newly founded Deutsche Bucherei (German Library) brought together all German language literature under one roof…In 1929 Leipzig became the birthplace of Ruth Pfau. As Martha Pfau conceived her fourth daughter in her womb, seeds had already been sown, for the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler's, National Socialist German Workers' Party — NSDAP or Nazi Party. Austrian-born Hitler had laid down his plans in his book 'Mein Kampf ' (My Battle), as early as 1923. According to which, the `cancerous democracy' was to be abolished, Bolsheviks, Jews and Marxists were to be banished and finally, the German nation was to achieve world dominance. In the ensuing years, he systematically built up his party. Seven weeks after Ruth's birth, the worst economic calamity of the twentieth century occurred. On October 29, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed. The ripple effect of Wall Street’s ‘Black Tuesday’ engulfed the entire world. Farm prices plunged, factories closed. Business in Leipzig which lay in the industrial heart of Germany, came to a standstill. But in the protective environment of a loving household, Ruth grew up largely unaware of the consequences of 'The Great Depression'. She spent her early years together with her sisters, climbing up the apple trees in the garden, around her spacious family home…The period of 'the Great Depression' destroyed all foundations of stability. Economic, political and social conflicts increased. There was mass unemployment and political extremism. By manipulating the situation Hitler became the key figure. His pictures and posters were all around. But Ruth's father just could not stand the man, as much as the daughter hated math and stitching classes at school. By 1933, Ruth was a chirpy four-year-old and the Nazi Party growing up alongside had become strong enough, to have Hitler appointed as Chancellor. Hitler soon freed himself of all constitutional and parliamentary control.”
NSDAP became the state party. All other political parties were abolished, trade unions were banned, and opposition newspapers disbanded. The judges had no right left to question the decisions of the Fuhrer. The state operated a perfect surveillance system. The list of 'enemies of the state' included communists, Jews, Marxists, politically active churches, politically dissatisfied people (grumblers), abortionists and homosexuals…Hitler became the Fuhrer (Leader) of the German Reich (Empire) and nation. A racist ideology began to be preached. The state institutions taught children, `to think nothing but German, to feel German and to behave German.' At school, Ruth listened to the theory of acquiring a 'Lebensraum' (living space) for the `German master race'. As a child she thought, 'We seem to have enough space around us, what do we need that more space for?' But questions were not to be asked. Informers of the state were known to be around. All youth associations were disbanded and replaced by the 'Hitler Youth Movement', which became an instrument of national socialist education and pre-military training. Like all others, Ruth's parents also got their daughters enrolled. The children marched on the streets singing party songs, oblivious of the fact that their country was preparing for a war. After 1933, with an upturn in the world economy, Germany's economic position also recovered…Then anti-Semitism began with acts of violence, against Jews and their property. The 'Aryan paragraph' became the basis for legal action, against Jewish doctors, lawyers, journalists and artists…”
Dr Pfau used to say that the country of her birth is of course Germany, but the country of heart is Pakistan and her heart beats only for Pakistan. Describing her daily morning rituals, the author observes: “Every morning when in Karachi, she comes down the stairs from her one room apartment, on the second floor of MALC hospital. Clad in a plain cotton shalwar kameez, she stops at the entrance to have a brief chat in easy going Urdu, with Ghuncha Gul the Pathan gatekeeper, a treated leprosy patient. She then walks along the streets of a still sleepy city, towards the 125 years old St Patrick's Cathedral. On the way an Afghan rag picker walks past her, with a nonchalance. A young drug addict sleeping on the roadside, turns his back towards her. Around the corner an emaciated vendor, setting his cart on the pavement, coughs persistently. From a nearby shack, the cry of a girl child echoes in the air. Her heart bleeds. She wishes she could do more, just a little bit more, for the poor of this land. The land she has loved and loved with all her heart. Inside the arched hall of the Cathedral, she stands short and frail, in front of the tall, wooden Crucifix. Her head is bowed, her eyes tightly closed, as she places her right hand on her heart and utters in trembling whisper: ‘Lord, I am not worthy to receive you; You only say the word and I shall be healed.’ Another day has begun. Another day to His will. Just like the day forty-four years back, when she had landed in Karachi airport. And [what] she had brought along was her poverty, chastity and obedience — nothing more, nothing less.”
Dr Rath Pfau passed away in Karachi on August 10, 2017; she was buried in Karachi according to her will. Serving the Unserved — A Biography of Dr Ruth Pfau, is an absorbing story of her fifty-five years of devoted service to humanity in eliminating leprosy in Pakistan. Her example of dedicated service to the poor will forever serve as a guide, an inspiration, and as a model for all who aspire to serve humanity!
[Dr Ahmed S. Khan ( dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org ) is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar - 2017-2022)]
