BRIAN H. CAMERON
Author
My new book, Ripples from the Rupununi: Dr. Aidun's Healing Journey is about the ripple effects of one surgeon's faith and commitment to his adopted Guyanese community.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Somewhere over the rainforest in Guyana there's a land called the Rupununi, a creek-crossed savannah inhabited for millennia by Indigenous people of great capacity. This is where Dr. Jamshid Aidun, a Persian Canadian surgeon and a humble man of faith, went to lead the Bahá'í Community Health Partnership, and to heal his own broken heart.
Moving to Guyana from his surgical practice in Manitoba, Aidun was the only doctor for 17,000 people scattered across a region the size of Nova Scotia. For five years, he performed life-saving surgeries and travelled by Land Rover, canoe, bicycle, bullock cart, and on foot, accompanying Macushi and Wapishana villagers to take charge of their own health care.
Sourced from detailed interviews with Aidun and many key players, and from his own journals, Ripples from the Rupununi traces the transformation of an Indigenous community that was historically underestimated. Finding spiritual strength in service, Aidun rediscovered love and healed himself while he healed others.
Published by Friesen Press. Available as e-book at Amazon, Indigo and all online retailers. Ask at McMaster and Hamilton independent bookstores.
BRIAN CAMERON
About the Author
Dr. Brian Cameron is a Professor Emeritus of Pediatric Surgery at McMaster University.
His first surgical job was in St. Anthony, Nfld.
A year later, he and his family pioneered to the South Pacific where Cameron taught at the Fiji School of Medicine for four years.
Returning for a pediatric surgery fellowship in Vancouver, he then worked at the Geisinger Clinic in Pennsylvania before returning to his hometown of Hamilton and a rich twenty year academic surgical career at McMaster.
In 2006, inspired by Dr. Jamshid Aidun and collaborating with Canadian and Guyanese colleagues, Cameron helped establish Guyana’s first postgraduate training program in Georgetown.
MEDIA
More Articles
Ottawa Big Ideas presentation Dec 2025 (Coming Soon)
Hamilton Spectator article Oct 2025
OPINIONS IN THE 'SPEC'
June 2025
The outside perimeter of the new city shelter on Barton Street West looks forbidding, surrounded by a chain-link fence, and protected by a
security guard.
Sept 2025
Young surgeons travel here from Guyana, Uganda and elsewhere to receive top training supervised by McMaster faculty.
June 2025
For 80 years, the United Nations has made our lives healthier, settled refugees, provided food during famines and built economies. But it is failing in its mission to maintain peace, Brian H. Cameron writes.
July 2025
When it comes to vaccinations, public health, schools and faith communities share the responsibility of speaking up for our children’s health.