Shaukat Khanum Fundraising Gala Dinner in Sacramento, California
By Ras H. Siddiqui
A team of dedicated individuals grouped under the umbrella of Friends of Imran Khan Cancer Appeal, Inc (Sacramento) organized an event in support of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre being built in Karachi, on Sunday September 24, 2023, at the Hilton Arden West in California’s Capital City. This cause remains of great interest to the Pakistani-American community, which is helping to continue building the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Karachi which is the largest and possibly the most challenging effort attempted by this organization thus far.
On hand to provide details and other relevant information at the event was Dr Nausherwan Khan Burki, MD, who came all the way from Connecticut for this program and another one held in the San Francisco Bay Area the night before. Entertainment was provided by Shazia Manzoor and her band of musicians which became an added attraction for local music lovers.
The event started with dinner as the attendees trickled in over the first hour or so. When this writer reached the venue, it seemed possible that politics had hit this fundraiser with few attendees, but by the time dinner and Maghrib Prayers ended, the hall was almost full. So, a huge thank you in advance to our community for continuing to care for people back in Pakistan and for not letting any divisions hit the needs of others.
The evening started and ended in the very capable hands of emcee Waqar Rizvi who has continued to show his amazing talent at select events in the area. Waqar started off with some words of wisdom via Urdu poetry. He also asked the audience to give themselves a round of applause for being here on a Sunday evening for a good cause. He said that Shaukat Khanum Hospitals reflect the success of the collective will of our people. He added that this is our hospital for our Pakistan. Rizvi then invited Aurangzeb to start the formalities with a recitation from the Holy Qur’an along with its English translation.
Waqar next introduced Dr Nausherwan Khan Burki and invited him to deliver the evening keynote. As a very accomplished contributor to the field of medicine here in the United States, Dr Burki not only makes his country of origin but King Edward Medical College, Lahore, proud. I was lucky enough to sit with him for over an hour at the table and found him to be a very humble and knowledgeable individual. He has the striking and chiseled (almost European) looks of the Burki clan (he is Imran Khan’s cousin) but his soft-spoken Urdu, which he solely used to communicate with me, revealed his very Pakistani roots.
Dr Burki has been a driving force behind the Shaukat Khanum (SK) cancer hospitals in Pakistan and retains a leading role in the project. He said that the SK hospital is nothing without your support. He provided an update on where the project stands at the moment. The Lahore hospital has been up and running for about 29 years, the hospital in Peshawar is fully functional now, and the upcoming hospital in Karachi will Insha’Allah be opened this coming year.
In Pakistan estimates are that there will be 180,000 new cases of cancer annually and that 90,000 patients will die every year of this disease. The making of the SK institution from day one has been to have a modern institution focused on alleviating the suffering of patients with cancer. “We provide curative and palliative care for them irrespective of their ability to pay,” said Burki. We have at the moment two functional hospitals and one coming up (Karachi) plus three diagnostic centers which patients can go to for their preliminary evaluations apart from the hospitals, and four walk-in clinics (the Karachi walk in clinic has started). There are also 180 lab collection centers throughout the country.
In a nutshell Dr Burki said that the need for cancer care is growing in Pakistan and the facilities available for its treatment are struggling to keep up. His presentation was quite detailed on the financing required to keep this project going and that is where our donor generosity comes into the picture. The Karachi hospital will be much larger than the one in Lahore and is expected to be fully utilized when complete. Dr Burki also answered several questions related to the project from the audience.
The next speaker was Usayd Azhar, a young man from the local Sacramento area community, who has himself been battling the disease. Over the years, this writer has covered many events with incredibly powerful and moving speeches presented and Usayd’s sharing of his story, the love and support of his parents, and the strength he has derived from his faith during his challenging life, was amazing, to say the least. One hopes that he can communicate more of his experience with our larger Muslim community in America, especially with our young people, who could learn a great deal from him.
After a short video presentation, the fundraising began with Waqar Rizvi in the driver’s seat. One individual started the fundraiser by agreeing to donate $20,000 if someone else would match his contribution. Other large donations followed. A cricket bat autographed by Imran Khan was auctioned for over $10,000 and autographed balls went for up to $2,000. One ball was presented by Qumar Ashraf to Usayd Azhar as a token of appreciation for his incredibly inspiring speech. At the end of the fundraising, close to $130,000 had been collected at this event.
The final part of the evening was a high energy performance by Shazia Manzoor. Shazia certainly took us on a journey down memory lane as she presented some old songs originally sung by some of Pakistan’s greatest singers. She also presented some of her own hits to the delight of the audience.
