Yesterday, Google changed its logo to honor Muslim activist Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Edhi Foundation, the

world’s largest volunteer ambulance network.

The giant search engine changed its logo in the U.S., Iceland, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Estonia, the UK, Denmark, Ireland and Pakistan to a doodlge, or illustration, of Edhi.

“In celebration of Abdul Sattar Edhi, let’s all lend a hand to someone in need today,” it said.

Edhi was born before partition in Bantva, Gujarat, India on February 28, 1928.

In 1951, he established the Edhi foundation , which was funded only through donations and focused on addicts, battered women, orphans and the disabled.

The Edhi foundation was at the forefront of the response in 2015 when a devastating heatwave struck Karachi, a city of about 20 million people.

The charity has also helped thousands of people around the world in times of need, including survivors of Hurricane Katrina and thousands of Pakistani orphans.

Over his lifetime, the Edhi Foundation expanded entirely with private donations including establishing a network of 1,800 minivan ambulances.

By the time of his death, Edhi was registered as a parent or guardian of nearly 20,000 children. He is known as the Angel of Mercy and is considered to be Pakistan’s “most respected” and legendary figure.

In 2013, The Huffington Post claimed that he might be “the world’s greatest living humanitarian”

Edhi was born into Islam but never allowed faith to interfere in his humanitarian work. Once asked why he helped non-Muslims, he answered simply: “Because my ambulance is more Muslim than you.”

He is also well-known for the aphorism: “People have become educated… but have yet to become human.”

Edhi passed away  on July 8 last year in Karachi due to renal failure.  He was offered treatment abroad, but insisted on being treated in a government hospital at home.

 

Sources:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/02/abdul-sattar-edhi-google-honours-angel-mercy-170227140720826.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/abdul-sattar-edhi-google-doodle-9931622

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/abdul-sattar-edhi-google-doodle-pakistan-philanthropist-volunteer-medical-care-network-ambulances-a7603221.html