'Pakistan's Mother Teresa' receives state funeral
Pakistani soldiers yesterday carried the flag-draped coffin of German-born Catholic nun Ruth Pfau to a state funeral where she was honoured after devoting her life to eradicating leprosy in the country.
Widely known as Pakistan's Mother Teresa, Pfau died last week in the southern city of Karachi at age 87. She is to be buried in her adopted homeland.
Mourners paid their last respects as Pfau's coffin was carried to the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre that she founded before being taken on to St Patrick's Cathedral for the official service.
Pfau had been living in Pakistan since 1960, and her leprosy centre in Karachi was Pakistan's first hospital dedicated to treating the disease. She later opened treatment centres across the country.
In 1996, the World Health Organisation declared that leprosy had been controlled in Pakistan, which led Pfau to the more challenging task of eliminating the disease.
Last year, the number of patients under treatment for leprosy fell to 531 from over 19,000 in the 1980s.
Born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1929, Pfau had seen firsthand the devastation wrought by World War II. She attributed her desire to become a doctor and a healer to this experience.
Ainee Shehzad, a member of the MALC board of trustees who worked with Pfau for 25 years, told CNN that she was "one of the most inspirational" people she had ever met.
Shehzad said Pfau was undeterred in her quest to help the underprivileged and that she would go to the "remotest parts of Pakistan to help, a foreign lady heading on donkeyback to places even cars couldn't reach."
In 1989, she was presented the Hilal-i-Pakistan, the country's second-highest civilian award.
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