In 2016, Abdul Qadeer was traveling from Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to Karachi. During this journey, he somehow lost his way and became separated from his family. Unable to speak or hear, and unsure of where he belonged, finding his way back home or informing the authorities about his identity became an even greater challenge.
Days turned into months, and months into years, but Abdul Qadeer remained away from his family for ten long years.
His journey back home began when the Mera Pyara team, working under the Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA), visited Karachi and visited shelter homes, including Edhi Centres and other orphanage centres. The team collected data on lost and unidentified children, entered their information into the dashboard, recorded short interviews,, and uploaded them to its official social media platforms, hoping that someone might recognise them as their own child or a child from their neighbourhood. Abdul Qadeer was also among those individuals.
The Mera Pyara team shared his information on social media to help identify him and began searching for his family through facial recognition technology. During this process, the AI system generated an alert that led to a significant breakthrough. Abdul Qadeer’s family had also reported him missing years earlier.
The AI alert helped connect two sides of the same story: a family that had been searching for their missing loved one and a man who had spent ten years away from home.
Once his identity and family connection were established, efforts were made to reunite him with his loved ones. After a decade of separation, Abdul Qadeer finally stood before his family again.
There were no words to explain that moment. Unable to speak or hear, Abdul Qadeer could not express his feelings through words, but the emotions on his face reflected the pain of separation and the joy of being reunited with his family.
After ten years, the wait was finally over. Abdul Qadeer was back with his loved ones, bringing an end to his family’s long period of waiting and uncertainty.
His reunion highlights how Mera Pyara combines human compassion, public participation, social media, and AI-powered facial recognition technology to help trace missing children and reconnect separated families. It also reflects the importance of coordination and technology in identifying individuals who might otherwise remain separated from their loved ones for years.
Mera Pyara: Reuniting Separated Families Through Technology and Compassion.
You can read another reunification of a lost child, Faizan, who reunited with his family after 6 years of separation.