Giving a stethoscope to a refugee boy inspired a career in caregiving

CHESTER, England — When Waheed Arian was 5 years old, his father knelt beside him and handed him a large, colorful kite. That little moment, in Afghanistan, was burned into the memory of his son.

“I was a child born in the war,” said Dr. Arian, now 39, and a physician. “I had no idea what normality was like and I only have a couple of happy memories like this from the early years of my life.”

Those years, the late 1980s and 1990s, were spent in the chaos of war, with uncertainty swirling around him, first in his hometown of Kabul; then in a refugee camp in Pakistan where he was displaced with his family; and then back to an Afghanistan mired in civil war.

Decades later, driven by the hope of one day becoming a doctor, he established a new life in Britain, where he overcame post-traumatic stress disorder, learned English and studied medicine at Cambridge University, eventually becoming an emergency room doctor. .

“I arrived with no family support and hardly any education,” said Dr. Arian. “But I wanted to do something with my life and I was taking steps towards it, even though it was a long shot.”

Two years ago, published “In the Wars”, a memoir about his journey from Kabul to Britain as an asylum seeker. His story, a personal story of overcoming obstacles, illustrates how Britain’s asylum system has long provided refuge and opportunity for countless people.

But in recent years, successive Conservative governments have cracked down on the process, particularly with policies aimed at discouraging asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel.

This month the government introduced legislation that would expel all people arriving on small boats crossing the Channel without hearing their asylum claims, a position that has been criticized by human rights groups. The British government says many of those arriving this way are economic migrants and that the policy will act as a deterrent. However, government data shows that the majority of those who make it to the coast are ultimately granted asylum.

Dr Arian said his own journey showed “what can be done when you allow people to realize their potential.”

“In this case, you can see the future that I have,” he said. “But there are so many other futures at stake.”

Speaking from his home in Chester, in the northwest of England, Dr Arian, a father of two, recounted the arduous journey that took him out of Afghanistan.

When his parents sent him to Britain in 1999, at just 15, it was a difficult decision for them, he said. But, he explained, “he was at risk of being taken as a military soldier.” And he added: “I had no future. He wanted to be a doctor, not a murderer.

So his parents pooled the money to pay a man to help him get to Britain to meet a family friend.

He boarded a plane from Islamabad, Pakistan, with a fake passport in hand, and applied for asylum when he arrived.

“As soon as I landed in the UK, they handcuffed me and put me in jail,” he said. “But I came with that hope of security and the dream of becoming a doctor.”

That dream began in childhood when he was treated for tuberculosis contracted in the refugee camp in Pakistan. Despite a grim prognosis, a local doctor provided excellent care, along with a textbook and stethoscope. He made a full recovery and now he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up.

“On one hand, I saw so much suffering,” he said. “And on the other hand, there was this healer who could actually magically heal people.”

He eventually received refugee status in Britain. He worked three jobs and began studying for his college exams. He remembers being told by other Afghan refugees to become a driver or perhaps a trader.

Instead, he applied to Cambridge University. And against all odds, he got into and then went to medical school. He became a British citizen.

A soft-spoken man who seems to put care and attention into every word, Dr. Arian spoke of the importance of giving back through humanitarian efforts.

“We might think it’s a small thing,” he said, describing the many supporters who have offered him a kind word, a job or other opportunities over the years. “But it’s not for many refugees. Your future depends on all these little parts, these bits of community service, which can then shape your future.”

In 2015, he founded, arian telecuration, a non-profit online platform that connects British doctors with doctors in Afghanistan via video links. The service was later expanded to connect doctors in Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones with professionals from around the world. He was distinguished by UNESCO.

Dr. Arian is now building on that success with Arian Wellness, a platform aimed at offering culturally sensitive mental health support, which he believes can be beneficial to refugees who have experienced trauma. It will be free for those who cannot pay.

He hopes to roll out Arian Wellbeing in the coming months to help newcomers to Britain as part of a pilot program with some local officials. Within five years, he expects thousands of psychologists to offer their services on the platform, so he can help when the next disaster hits, like the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, or the war in Ukraine.

For years after reaching the safety of Britain, the ghosts of his past haunted him.

“I was working very hard, three jobs at first: cleaner, kitchen helper and salesperson, and at night I was also studying a little English,” Dr. Arian said. “It was at that point that my PTSD started to show.”

She found herself unable to relax, clenching her hands and having flashbacks. In the middle of the night, he would wake up with intense nightmares.

Working with a psychologist has helped him address these issues, he said.

He, his wife, and their children live in a two-bedroom house with a large backyard. They have a Burmese cat and a small dog named Pushkin. The yard is full of children’s toys and the walls of the house are lined with family photos. Some brothers and their father are still in Afghanistan; his mother recently died there.

Last month, Dr. Arian visited a local hotel where hundreds of newly arrived asylum seekers from Afghanistan are staying after being displaced when the Taliban retook the country in 2021.

“I see the same problems I experienced in their eyes,” she said, describing how the children’s faces lit up when she spoke to them in their shared mother tongue.

In this meeting, and others he has had with asylum seekers from around the world arriving in Britain, he said he has seen how detrimental government policies have been to their mental health.

“I can only imagine what refugees at risk are going through in hotels,” he said, where many are staying while awaiting a decision on their future. “We have made friends with some of them, and they are being traumatized again by going through all of this.”

Above all, he saw a reflection of his own history. He hopes that he can be an example to those who struggle with the complexity of life in a new and unknown place.

“Every time I talk to these refugees, they have their individual dreams,” he said. “And I get it.”