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Acid Survivors Trust - Canada
Monira was the daughter of rickshaw puller in Bangladesh, but at 12 she was blinded and scarred from an acid attack by an angry “suitor.” The girl’s parents had been under pressure to marry her off to a young man. When they refused, he took revenge by throwing acid at Monira, destroying one eye and savaging her face, neck and shoulders.
Relatively unknown to Canadians, these horrific attacks that maim and disfigure the victims are on the increase throughout the world, according to Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), a U.K.-based organization helping support survivors. The plight of these survivors spurred Gary Harding, a recent retiree from SaskTel, to set up a Canadian office in Saskatoon.
“I could not think of a cause that needed so much help and the money raised by ASTI truly changes lives for those affected by acid violence,” he says.
Photograph courtesy of Peter Wilson
A longtime volunteer with organizations such as the Open Door Society and stay-in-school programs at inner-city schools, the 54-year-old has been an energetic fundraiser for charities for as long as he can remember. During one memorable campaign, Harding, with support from SaskTel employees and individual sponsors, raised $12,000 US for a children’s surgical centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His recent efforts were triggered during visits he made to the clinic between 2007 and 2009, when he came face to face with acid-attack victims.
“While I was there in 2008, I was introduced to a retired plastic surgeon from the U.K. who was volunteering his time to reconstruct the severely disfigured faces and bodies of victims of acid violence.”
Harding was so impressed by the volunteer medic’s passion that he spent two weeks helping out in the operating room as the surgeon worked to improve the appearance and overall functioning of acid attack victims.
“Many of the victims had been blinded by the acid, and often their children were also severely burnt because they were being held by their mothers when the acid was thrown,” says Harding.
After travelling to London to meet ASTI’s founder, Harding was asked if he was interested in establishing an Acid Survivor’s Foundation in Canada. He accepted the challenge.Harding realized this country would be a perfect location to address the needs of growing incidents of acid attacks in Central and South America and the Caribbean, along with continued support for clinics in Southeast Asia, Asia and Africa.
Network growing
ASTI Canada is a registered Canadian charity with a primary mission to help create a response in each country with significant attack rates and provide financial, medical and administrative support to the growing network of Acid Survivors Foundations (usually called ASFs). The first ASF was established in Bangladesh in 1999. Although situations vary from country to country, women are overwhelmingly the victims, often because they have spurned the advances of men. Efforts by the ASF in Bangladesh, in co-operation with the national government, have proven successful. Attack rates were down in 2007 and continue to decline.
Despite significant progress, figures from countries where the organization operates tell a shocking story. ASFs in Uganda, Pakistan, Cambodia and Bangladesh have each treated more than 100 survivors during the last year alone. “Victims have nowhere else to turn. It’s heartbreaking, but I know from my own experience that every small step we take brings positive change to someone’s life. I have seen it,” Harding says.
Supported and partly resourced by ASTI and volunteers, these in-country ASFs work with non-governmental organizations, governments and the international community to ensure survivors have better access to medical care, including plastic surgery, physiotherapy and rehabilitation. They also assist with survivors’ rehabilitation through helping them with education and finding employment, along with providing survivors with better access to the justice system.
ASTI tries to raise funds, investigate trends and establish links with national and international activists so that the issues are addressed in the wider social and political context.It also provides volunteer medical expertise. Visiting surgeons, nurses and other practitioners always allocate a portion of their time to training and mentoring local doctors and nurses at the clinic.
Thanks to support from SaskTel through its We See You program, an internal group addressing needs in Third World countries, ASTI Canada is currently involved in establishing a new ASF in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Crown corporation was also instrumental in providing medical equipment and supplies to ASTI’s supported ASF in Kampala, Uganda, says Harding. “When I see the volunteers such as plastic surgeons and many other health professionals giving their time, I know that it’s money well invested for those who donate,” he says.
It was certainly a process that worked for Monira, the young rickshaw puller’s daughter. After reconstructive surgery at the ASF in Bangladesh, Monira’s physical appearance has dramatically improved and her self-confidence has been restored. ASF’s social workers helped her to go back to school and she now lives a happy life and plans on attending college. For Harding, his passion and resolve to help others is a way of giving back.
“I have four daughters, all healthy and fortunate enough to call Canada home. So many others in this world are not so lucky. They need our help, and they need our support.’’
To find out more about ASTI Canada e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
By Peter Wilson, The StarPhoenix, November 2009
Posted on December 17th 2009 by Rajpreet Sandhu in ASTI news
Comments (2 so far)
These horrific attacks that maim and disfigure the victims are on the increase throughout the world, according to Acid Survivors Trust International
Added by Huggable hanger on 11th January at 10:42 PM
When I see the volunteers such as plastic surgeons and many other health professionals giving their time, I know that it’s money well invested for those who donate
Added by Bridges To Recovery on 1st February at 12:51 PM