Lughmani family dedicates life to public service worldwide and close to home

By GINA NAPOLI

Career choices were a frequent topic of discussion in Naeem Lughmani’s childhood home “The parents always wanted their children to be successful; you either became a doctor or engineer,” the native of Abbottabad, Pakistan, said. “My dad would say, ‘My son is going to become a doctor,’ and everyone started calling me doctor when I was in high school.” As a 15-year-old, ‘Dr. Lughmani’ had a nice ring to it, but the ambitious teenager still had a lot of schooling to complete.

“There was no doctor in my family, and that career was considered prestige back home, but we were more of a farming family,” he said. “So, I was the first one. I kept with that focus, and then I was able to get into med school.” After graduating from Ayub Medical College in Pakistan, Dr. Lughmani knew both he and his future family were destined to lead a life of selflessness. The 59-year-old now lives in Toledo with his wife, Shameela, and has two daughters, Mehwish and Medeeha, and two sons, Musa and Haroon.

The family of six has devoted their lives to public service by traveling to rural areas around the world, educating young generations and offering medical assistance to the less fortunate. They volunteer with Humanity First USA, a nonprofit organization founded in 2004. Humanity First USA is affiliated with the Humanity First International consortium, which was founded in 1995 by the head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad. Since 2004, Humanity First has welcomed 55 chapters around the United States, serving more than 5 million people in 65 countries. The organization strives to “serve humanity” and “safeguard human life and dignity.”

Inspiration out of devastation

Dr. Lughmani unexpectedly joined Humanity First in 2005. Desperate to contact his family after the catastrophic earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, in October, 2005, the devoted son traveled to Balakot, where he witnessed widespread destruction and death firsthand. “My father’s hometown is Balakot. I went and saw the misery. I mean it was just horrible to see,” he said. “The smell of death in my own village, where I used to go. They were all psychologically disturbed, and I didn’t help them, and that image stays in my mind.”

During this devastating trip, he contacted Humanity First, which he had only heard of through the grapevine. Trucks with water, medical, and cleaning supplies were quickly sent to Balakot, and Dr. Lughmani was nothing short of impressed. Dr. Lughmani returned to the town two months later, but this time as a volunteer with Humanity. He later became medical director in 2010. “If you are a doctor, you can help. Doctors have a presence in certain disasters,” he said. “They make a huge difference.” Flash forward 20 years, and Dr. Lughmani’s children have not only followed in his footsteps but paved the way for future generations.

“He inspired me, and I am so blessed,” Musa Lughmani, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Toledo, said of his father. “Seeing that in your parents puts into perspective how they were not lecturing me, they were training me how to live my life as humbly as I can.” At just 25 years old, Mr. Lughmani is the student division executive director for Humanity First, overseeing the 55 chapters across the United States. He has also embarked on six mission trips to Guatemala, including, four “gift of health” trips and two “gift of sight” trips.

“A lot of the patients we see, we are visiting them in rural communities,” he said. “These people have never seen a physician, and when you communicate with these patients you hear their stories and how many problems they struggle with.” Volunteers on “gift of health” missions set up mobile clinics in the heart of communities and offer up to three months of free medications, while “gift of sight” trips strive to correct people’s vision impairments. Other mission trip titles include, disaster relief, food security, knowledge for life, orphan care, and water for life.

Helping worldwide

On a particular “gift of sight” mission in Guatemala, Mr. Lughmani recalls aiding a rural farmer who had a cancerous pterygium over one of his eyes. “He had never received treatment,” Mr. Lughmani said. “We saw that his mass looked malignant. We set him up for surgery and removed the mass and confirmed it to be cancer. We preserved his sight.”

While Mr. Lughmani has helped thousands of residents of Guatemala, his brother, Haroon, and cousin, Zohaib, traveled to Guyana, southeast of Venezuela. “Humanity First sees villages and patients who really need that help and don’t have access to health care,” the younger brother said. “Students collected eyeglasses across the country for the people of Guyana and found the exact prescription that met the needs of every person.”

“It was a great experience,” his cousin added. “It is good to step out of your comfort zone and help people in need. It makes you feel fulfilled and happy.” Dr. Lughmani’s son recently graduated from UT with a bachelor’s degree in biology while his nephew is a sophomore at UT studying biology. The UT graduate plans to start medical school in July and said despite taking the next year off, he will stay busy as the director of the Humanity First education project. “We serve 600 students around the country and have teams in Texas, Toledo, Illinois, Florida, and all over to recruit tutors from universities and connect them with schools in need,” he said. “[We are] working with students and tutoring in math and ELA primarily.”

Since the project launched in 2020, the 21-year-old has been heavily involved. Trips to Lahaina, Hawaii, to educate students recovering from the 2024 Maui wildfires and starting a summer project with elementary schools across the Toledo are just a few of the project’s accomplishments. “With the summer program, we are able to connect with the kids,” he said. “We have career mentoring sessions in engineering and medicine … the students are genuinely inspired by career mentors and excited to learn and make something from their lives. Even the education project can make an impact in a [natural] disaster situation.

Next opportunity to help always awaits

In the eyes of Dr. Lughmani, a new and rewarding service opportunity is always right around the corner. Recent catastrophic floodings in Texas called him and Humanity First volunteers to the scene. From July 17 to July 21, Dr. Lughmani found himself in Kerrville, Texas, offering medical care at Center Point City’s fire station. “I did care for two days to support and offered vaccinations,” he said. “They have just a nurse practitioner there, so we offered them telemedicine.”

Dr. Lughmani said he has recruited more than 200 doctors to Humanity’s Doctors 4 Humanity project to make telemedicine appointments available for those affected by the Texas floods. Dr. Lughmani has returned to Toledo; however, volunteers from Humanity will be in Kerrville for the next month rehabilitating homes, he said. As the Lughmanis continue to share their passion for public service in various corners of the world, family members hope to encourage others to lead a life of compassion. “That is the whole purpose of doing this, right?” Dr. Lughmani said. “It is a whole livelihood. Social change is such a big thing. All faiths have social connections… [we should] take care of each other and help each other.”