The Bomanshah Minocher-Homji Parsi General Hospital that has been exclusively serving the community in Karachi since 1942 both as a hospital and an infirmary is constantly in need of funds for regular maintenance and to upgrade its equipment and facilities. With many youngsters having left Karachi, the 30-bed Hospital is now home to septuagenarians, octogenarians and nonagenarians who are well looked after by the Hospital joint honorary secretary Gulbano Bamji.
Rashna Gazder (far l) with Gulbano Bamji; above: children visit an inmate
A group of Parsi children called Harmony in Helping Hands under the guidance of pianist Rashna Gazder, regularly visits the patients and spends time with the seniors who eagerly look forward to these visits. The group will perform a concert on April 7, 2019 at Avari Towers in Karachi to raise funds for the Hospital. The event will be hosted by Byram and Goshpi Avari. The Avari family owns the hotel chain and Byram is chairman of the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund.
Hoping to raise funds from expatriates from Pakistan, Bamji visited the United States in February 2019. "Due to foreign exchange regulations in Pakistan, it is not easy to transfer money directly into their Hospital account from the US or encash cheques in foreign currency,” noted an email from Khursheed Dastur, executive committee member of the Zoroastrian Association of Houston. She requested members to hand over donations in cash to support the institution.
"We might have a small staff, of doctors and attendants, but what we ensure is that those admitted here will be taken care of. There is an element of trust and reliability involved, since those living abroad need to know that their loved ones are safe,” Bamji was quoted in the Dawn of March 22, 2015. It is reassuring that the inmates adopt a positive attitude, with one nonagenarian commenting that three magical words "Thank you God” help her remember she has much to be grateful for! Two other sisters told the Dawn reporter, "People ask us why you didn’t get married. But then they tell us it was the best decision of our lives!”
The land for the Hospital was donated by Sir Kavasji Katrak in 1942. He was the philanthropist who built the bandstand at the Jehangir Kothari Parade. Funds to build the hospital came from Minocher-Homji.