Somali human rights activist and physician, Hawa Abdi Diblawe, who refused to cow down to threats from militants after her hospital outside the capital city of Mogadishu was destroyed four times, was on Saturday awarded Tanker (Tamilnad Kidney Research) Foundation’s ‘For the Sake of Honour’ award.
Her daughter, Deqo Aden Mohamed, received the award on her behalf and delivered the Tanker Krishnan Ang Lecture–2014, under the title ‘Keeping Hope alive’.
“At one point of time, there were 90,000 persons on our 1,300-acre farm and my mother provided them with food, water and medical treatment. Today, the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation provides healthcare and education and has just started promoting farming practices,” said Ms. Mohamed.
At the 21 Tanker annual charity and awards night held at Hotel Savera, Tanker Foundation’s founder-trustee Georgi Abraham urged patrons to donate generously for dialysis machines for the Catholic Medical Centre in Imphal.
The Foundation’s managing trustee, Latha A. Kumaraswami, said, from June 1993 till last month, Tanker had provided 1,31,881 free and subsidised dialysis for 777 patients.
V. Shankar of the SIES Group of Institutions, Mumbai, Pankaj Singh, chairman, La Renon, George Jacob Muthoot, director, Muthoot Group, Rajalakshmi Ravi, advisory member and head, Tanker awareness and prevention, also spoke at the function.
The Muthoot M. George Memorial Tanker and Kerala Kidney Research Foundation Young Investigator award went to Ashok Kumar Yadav of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. The award comprises Rs. 2 lakh, a citation and a gold medallion.
The Renny Abraham Tanker Foundation Love for Service Award for the most outstanding doctor in the country went to paediatrician Sai Lakshmi Balijepally of Ekam Foundation.
The K. Venkatanarayana Tanker Foundation Awareness Award went to neurologist Janak K. Nathan, who has been conducting epilepsy camps in Kutch, Gujarat. Three patients received 37 free dialysis each through the Ashok Sankaralingam Patient Endowment Fund.
