Jodi Hilton

Infant Rescue Karachi

WARNING: SOME PHOTOGRAPHS INVOLVE THE RITUAL BURIAL OF INFANTS. The Edhi foundation is busy saving abandoned babies, the illegitamate and the orphaned in Karachi. The once-common practice of infanticide is on the decline due to a public information campaign and the network of orphanages across Pakistan run by the Abdul Sattar Edhi and his wife, Bilquis, the most active philanthropists in Pakistan, who been recognized numerous times for their work.

Abdul Sattar Edhi, now in his late 70s or early 80s, speaks to a barren young couple looking to adopt a child.
  
A baby is born in a maternity clinic funded and run by the Edhi Foundation.
  
A young mother rests after giving birth to her 8th child in one of the Edhi Foundation Maternity Clinics in Karachi.
     
  
A newborn is cared for by Edhi child care workers at an orphanage as it awaits adoption. Most of the babies left to the Edhis are female. "We don't make boys," said Bilquis to one couple looking to adopt a male child.
  
A line of mostly female children eat a snack at an orphanage run by the Edhi Foundation. In Pakistani culture, having a girl child can often create difficulties, especially for poor families unable to afford the customary dowery.
  
Orphaned and abondoned children are raised by the Edhis and often live in their shelters well into adulthood.
     
  
A young teacher recites lessons with a group of of orphans.
  
Orphaned adolescent girls aren't adopted out since there is a great danger they will become victims of sexual abuse.
  
Bilquis Edhi makes a surprise visit to her orphans.
     
  
Playtime for girls at the Edhi Home in Karachi involves singing and games.
  
  
     
  
"Don't Kill" reads a public information campaign set up by the Edhis to convince parents to leave unwanted babies in their care.
  
The unclaimed body of an infant is washed according to Islamic tradition by Edhi Foundation workers before providing a proper burial.
  
In Edhi's morgue, a worker shows the numerous unclaimed infants awaiting burial.
     
  
A prayer is said during the ablution ritual performed according to Islamic tradition.
  
A gravedigger employed by the Edhi Foundation holds the shrouded body of an infant awaiting burial.
  
Gravediggers and other workers employed by Edhi pray of the tiny bodies of infants during the burial ceremony.