Ripples from the Rupununi: Dr. Aidun’s Healing Journey

A book, very special to the hearts of my family members, has just been released and we’re all excited about it! It describes the services and sacrificial efforts of my husband’s beloved grandfather, Dr. Jamshid Aidun. The book is called Ripples from the Rupunui: Dr. Aidun’s Healing Journey and it’s written by Brian Cameron.

While I could share personal words of adoration, as Brian put it, “Dr. Jamshid Aidun is well-known and loved in the Canadian Baha’i community. At 96 years young, he is still active and lives with his second wife Molly in Toronto. Dr. Aidun’s Guyana diaries and our interviews form the main story arc of the book–a memoir of the ripple effects of one individual’s response to a call to service.”

I am thrilled to have interviewed Brian about this book and what it can teach us all:

Can you please tell us a little bit about Ripples from The Rupununi: Dr. Aidun’s Healing Journey?

First I’d like to encourage your readers who plan to attend the upcoming Association for Baha’i Studies conference in Calgary (Canada), to book their seats for our breakout presentation on Saturday August 2nd. That’s when the book will be launched, and we anticipate a full room.

At the ABS conference, I will be joined on the discussion panel by three other contributors to the book: Laureen Pierre (Indigenous Guyanese educator), Somava Saha (Founder of WE in the World, an international NGO), and Jim Ferguson (Physician Associate and educator). We are excited to talk about the impact of Dr. Aidun’s story on our own careers, and the ripple effects globally of the Baha’i Community Health Partnership (BCHP) in Guyana.

The book is more than a biography, it is a true story about the transformation of one humble individual, a community with capacity, and the development of institutions that made an impact on the health of a remote region of South America over the past three decades. The principles of respect for others, promoting unity and sustainability, and mentoring local consultative leadership were the foundations to developing an equitable health partnership.

More importantly, it is about the ripple effects of that partnership a decade later in a country that now has the fastest growing economy in the world. And it is the story of how an individual can survive an overwhelming personal tragedy by responding to a call to serve others.

Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a paediatric surgeon with a passion for global surgery and health equity. After training in Canada, my family pioneered for five years; first to northern Newfoundland and then to Fiji in the south Pacific. Returning home to Hamilton, my academic career at McMaster University included a focus on medical education and global health, including helping develop surgical training in Guyana. When I recently retired, I was honoured to receive a national award for international collaboration from the Royal College .

I joined the Baha’i Faith when I was a university student and have been married to Pat for 47 years. We have four grandchildren, and live in Dundas, Ontario (Canada).

What inspired you to write this book? 

As a youth, I read about missionary doctors in remote regions, but later came to understand their legacies were often complicated by colonialism, paternalism, and proselytism. Dr. Aidun’s service in Guyana took a Baha’i approach to social action and health care in an underserved community, based on a “humble posture of learning”. His story inspired me, and I hope it will inspire my grandchildren’s generation. 

The BCHP focused on building local capacity where there were few Indigenous professionals and little health infrastructure. When I returned to the Rupununi region two years ago to complete my research, I discovered the ripple effects of Aidun’s efforts on a whole generation. I am so grateful to the Indigenous health workers whose own inspiring stories are highlights of the book.

Who is its audience?

The book will appeal to those in the Baha’i community who remember Dr. Aidun, and to young people looking for their own path of service. My hope is that the story will have a wider appeal to my colleagues working in global health, where many are motivated by altruism but sometimes struggle to know how to develop a true partnership.

Guyana is in the news with its recent oil discovery, but there is not much written about the country. Any Guyanese, in Toronto or New York or Georgetown, and anyone who has “eaten the labba and drank the black water”, will be excited to read about this young nation of welcoming people and spectacular beauty that is emerging onto the global stage as the fastest growing economy in the world.

What do you hope readers will take away with them?

The sudden loss of a spouse is something no one can completely recover from, and can challenge one’s resilience, faith, and optimism. Aidun’s story shows how responding to an opportunity to serve others can be a healing journey.

Can one individual make a difference in the world? What attitudes does it take to work respectfully with others? How can we be learners as well as teachers? Whether we are working in global health or other social action, we need to develop personal qualities that enable resiliency, collaboration, empathy, humility, and a willingness to respect and work with partners in pursuit of equity. My hope is that the stories in Ripples from the Rupununi: Dr. Aidun’s Healing Journey will teach and inspire anyone serving in a challenging environment.

What is some advice you’d give to anyone writing a Bahá’í-inspired biography?

Never having written a book before, I would first suggest getting advice from someone else with more experience!

If you are motivated to write, get started and persist. Writing is organic, rewriting makes it better, and feedback from key informants ensures it’s accurate. A biography doesn’t need to be encyclopedic, but it needs a story arc. It can be hard to know what to leave out, and sometimes putting the manuscript aside for a while can give clarity.

Stories are what nurture us–we need to share more of them.

Thank you so much, Brian, for sharing this with us and I wish you a very successful book launch at the upcoming ABS conference! 

Ripples from the Rupununi is available directly from Friesen Press as well as the US Baha’i Bookstore. You can also find out more by visiting Brian’s website.        

Posted by

Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.