VOLUNTEER SERVICES
Dr. Elahi has always felt that it is an obligation to help out those less fortunate in this world in whichever capacity one can. To this end, he has volunteered quite extensively over his career in developing countries, including Africa, South America and Asia. His most recent work has focused on Pakistan where he performed life altering surgery on survivors of the devastating earthquake where over 100,000 victims died. Dr. Elahi provided state of the art plastic surgical care to survivors including facial reconstruction, upper and lower extremity repairs and craniofacial surgery. Dr. Elahi was featured on CBC as a volunteer hero from Canada for his efforts there. He also travels to Pakistan 2 times per year to operate on children with congenital deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate and published the first study examining the incidence and epidemiology of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate in this part of the world. He is an active International Member of the Smile Train organization and has been named a WorldWide Smile Train Partner since 2002. Based in New York, the Smiletrain has been successful in allowing for over 200,000 operations on children since its inception. Dr. Elahi is pleased to have been instrumental in securing grants for plastic surgery care for the poorest people in that country (link to smiletrain: www.smiletrain.org) Dr. Elahi has recently accepted a position at one of the leading medical colleges in Pakistan, Fatima Memorial Medical College and Hospital as a Visiting Consultant in Plastic Surgery to continue his commitment to the poorest people in today’s world.
Closer to home, Dr. Elahi volunteers his plastic surgical care for victims of domestic violence. The victim must live on their own and away from the destructive relationship for at least a year. Virtually all the patients are women, who usually regain enough self-confidence and esteem to quit avoiding mirrors, lift their eyes up from the floor, leave the house, apply for jobs, finish school and otherwise resume a more or less normal life. While plastic surgery not only makes faces look better, it also affects what’s inside the mind and spirit.
“I get so much out of helping these patients, I almost feel guilty,” says Dr. Elahi. “It’s not only important for these women to look good again but to have the physical reminders of abuse gone. “I feel blessed with the skills I have and to help somebody better their life is one of the things that I love about being a plastic surgeon.”
Dr. Elahi Canadian Relief Foundation - www.canadianrelief.ca The Canadian Relief Foundation (CRF) is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-denominational charitable foundation registered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in December, 1999, CRF has earned its reputation as an important partner agency of the United Nations World Food Program. CRF’s mission is to make positive changes in the lives of innocent children and women in developing countries, the greatest victims of war, conflict and natural disaster, and are CRF's principal beneficiaries. CRF through the projects seeks to support families in developing countries to overcome poverty and live in security, something that all families and individuals seek for themselves all over the world.
