The couple who cared for a nation

Bilquis Edhi and her husband Abdul Sattar Edhi have built up and run Pakistan's most impressive social enterprise. The Edhi Foundation started off with a tiny dispensary in a Karachi slum but now provides health care to millions of people across Pakistan. They run everything from orphanages, clinics and maternity homes to centres for the mentally ill and disabled, mortuaries, soup kitchens and schools. They also have one of the world's biggest fleets of ambulances. The couple themselves continued to live a frugal life in the small flat over the original dispensary. Earlier this year, Abdul Sattar died at the age of 88. Bilquis Edhi tells Matthew Bannister how she met her husband when she was working as a nurse.

Image: Pakistani philanthropist husband and wife couple, Abdul Sattar (l) and Bilquis Edhi (r)
Credit: Getty Images