Home Away from Home

Umeed Parr exists at its core to provide help and hope to childhood cancer patients and their families. After working with them since July 2024, we have found that the area with the greatest need is accommodation. Majority of the families suffering are from out of Karachi. They are from interior Sindh, Baluchistan, KPK and Punjab. They are sleeping on hospital benches or in dirty encampments around the hospital. This breeds more and more infections nullifying the purpose of chemotherapy. More children are being lost due to infections rather than this dreaded disease. Many families abandon treatment halfway through the process, not because of the cost of treatment but because the cost of living in a strange city and the constant travel costs to and from their home becomes too much for them to bear. 

We at Umeed Parr aim to set up a hostel, where we can provide free lodging, food, basic medical care, counselling and education for children undergoing treatment. We are searching for premises close to the hospitals and we would provide transport as well. Close proximity to the hospitals is key for such a hostel. 

Ideally we hope to find a place within 15 minutes driving time to either AKUH or NICH. These are two of the hospitals that we are collaborating with that require a place for their patients to stay.