Before she headed off to Kabul, Afghanistan to provide free dental work, Dr. Shideh Pejman admitted she was quite eager to go.
“I’m feeling very, very, very, very excited,” she said. “I’m not nervous or anxious at all.”
Pejman is heading to Kabul to help out on the Afghanistan Dental Relief Project (ADRP.) Her flight left Dec. 28 and she is due to return Jan. 11.
“It’s a little bit longer than I had anticipated but my office was able to give me the time off, so that’s great.”
The Afghanistan-born Canadian, who is paying her own way to Kabul, also managed to raise $1,337 U.S. for the cause.
“I also got lots of donations from Henry Shine, a company that makes dental products,” said Pejman. “They gave me a bunch of stuff, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss. I have enough for about 200 kids.”
She plans to split the fund between the ADRP and the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO), an orphanage in Kabul.
“What I want to do is have a full day with the kids so I can do some teaching,” she said. “Give them their floss, toothbrush and toothpaste and show them how to use it.”
Pejman said that while she was very excited for her trip, she was also trying to exercise caution, given that she is a well-paid woman travelling alone to a war-torn country known for violence against women.
“There’s plenty of safety issues, things to do and not to do, that I’ve been going over,” she said. “Also, there are things I just generally know because I lived in the middle-east for some time. If I go out, it will be with the other doctors.”
She added that she was planning to stay close to Kabul for this first trip, and if things go well she would plan to make further forays into the country.
“I don’t want to make too any assumptions, but I honestly don’t know what to expect,” said Pejman. “If I feel like I can do what I need to do, that would be a good thing and then I could go back.”
For Pejman, making the trip is her way of thanking the world for the opportunities she was given.
“I was born in Afghanistan,” she said.
“For me, coming to Canada was the best thing that ever happened to us. I told myself that some day I would return home and give back. I really don’t see a difference between these people and me, I just got very lucky.
“I do believe when you inspire a young person to in a way where they think that anything is possible, that’s really the way to make a change.
“I want kids to see someone from the same place they are from and that person making it in the world and seeing their dreams come true. If I can just inspire one person, that’s good enough for me.”
