She founded the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in Karachi, which later opened centres in Rawalpindi as well. She was known for compassionately looking after and even curing leprosy patients - in an era when lepers were generally shunned by the community.
She specialised in the treatment of leprosy - a disease that causes discolouration of the skin, sores, and disfigurements - and her work continued for well over five decades, until she passed away earlier this year.
Ruth Pfau, in her earlier years, when she first went to Pakistan Source: Twitter
Fondly remembered as Pakistan's Mother Teresa, Ruth Pfau was conferred numerous awards in her lifetime, including the Nishan-e-Quaid-i-Azam, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards.
When she passed away in August 2017, she was fared well through a state funeral by the people and the government - making her the first ever woman to earn that honour in Pakistan.
In this dramatised play, you hear about the ostracism that leprosy patients faced in Pakistan in the 1960's - 70's, and Ruth Pfau's determination to help the most vulnerable. It is inspired by true events.
A state funeral for Ruth Pfau, Pakistan's Mother Teresa : the only woman in the nation's history to receive this honour. Source: Twitter
This radio play has been written, directed, dramatised and edited by SBS Punjabi's Lahore correspondent Masood Mallhi, supported by many voice actors including : Arshad Bajwa, Ifftikhar Khalid, Waqas Shabbir, Arslan, Faiza Azam, Asif Bhati, Shamsa, Maria, Parveen Masood, Ibraheem Masood (main child actor) and Mukashfa Masood (other child actor).
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