Dr Imtiaz Sooliman was born in Potchefstroom, in South Africa’s North West Province, on 07 March 1962. He attended Sastri College in Durban and matriculated in 1978, subsequently studying medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Medical School, where he qualified as a medical doctor in 1984. Dr Sooliman commenced private practice in Pietermaritzburg in 1986 but chose to close his flourishing practice in mid-1994, choosing instead to focus his attention on Gift of the Givers Foundation, which he had founded in early August 1992. His establishment of Gift of the Givers Foundation was the consequence of a message Dr Sooliman, then aged 30, received from Sufi Sheikh Muhammed Saffer Effendi al Jerrahi, his spiritual leader in Istanbul, Turkey, who called on him to serve all people of all races, of all religions, of all colours, of all classes, of all political affiliations and of any geographical location… a calling he honoured then and continues to honour today. His endeavour in this regard has seen Gift of the Givers Foundation emerge as one of the most respected humanitarian organisations in the world and is today the largest disaster response agency of African origin anywhere on the continent.