Our 17th Illuminator - Dolly Dastoor PhD
Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North Ameria (FEZANA)
Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North Ameria (FEZANA)
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Dolly Dastoor April Illuminator, was born was born in Mumbai, India in a traditional Zoroastrian Family. She moved to Ibadan, Nigeria where her three children were born, and now is living in
Montreal, Canada. Her daughter, son and she got their doctorate degrees all the same year. As President of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA), federation of 26 associations across North America. She will tell us about her religion that cares for all creation. Dolly Dastoor I was born in Mumbai, India in a traditional Zoroastrian Family. We were a family of 2 daughters and 2 sons but were all treated equally with total freedom of choice for education and life choices. I lived on three continents, Mumbai, Asia, Ibadan, Nigeria, (Africa) Montreal, Canada (N. America) and have been influenced by all three cultures. My life started in Mumbai, where I did all my schooling in a convent, then went to a Jesuit college and finished my Master’s in Clinical Psychology. Did some teaching in the university, then got married in 1964 and went to Ibadan, Nigeria, where my husband, also a Zoroastrian, was working in the Ministry of Education. My three children were all born in Nigeria where we stayed there till 1973. In Ibadan I worked as a Senior Research Fellow, at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan, in the International World Health project in Schizophrenia and also on Ford Foundation Project in evaluating Mental Health Treatment in a hospital setting versus in a traditional African village setting. In Ibadan, I was active in the International Women’s organization, the University Women’s Organization, and Zonta International, all on the campus. In 1973 we left Nigeria to immigrate to Montreal, Canada. Soon after coming to Montreal, I got a job at Douglas Hospital, as a research fellow in the Geriatric Unit of the hospital. Soon I worked up professionally, became the Clinical Psychologist, for the unit, then chair of the education program of the unit. In 1993 I enrolled for my doctorate and received my Ph.D. in 1999, and was appointed Asst Professor in Psychiatry, McGill University. At the Douglas Hospital. It was great pride for me that my daughter and my son and I got our doctorate in the same year. I was a late bloomer!!! I wrote a proposal for developing a Comprehensive Program for Dementia Care, incorporating a memory clinic, a day centre and an inpatient unit, all under one roof, so the patient and the family do not have to go searching for services in the city. It took my team 7 years to convince the hospital to approve the program and allocate space and finance the retrofitting the old building into a State-of-the-Art environment for people suffering from Dementia. Together with my psychist colleague I developed an assessment tool for evaluating levels of Dementia, called the Hierarchic Dementia Scale. I was invited to England, New Zealand, and Australia, to present the tool. I specialize in Dementia and memory studies and as an executive member of the McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging I am involved in teaching to Nursing Home Staff on how to deal the people suffering from dementia, promoting “person-centered“ approach to treat the person and not the disease. I co-founded the Alzheimer Society of Montreal and was president for 4 years. In Mumbai I was a practicing Zoroastrian but did not know the philosophy in depth. In Montreal I was forced to learn overnight, as I became the President of the Zoroastrian Association of Quebec and a few years later the President of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) , federation of 26 associations across North America. And in 2000 I chaired the World Zoroastrian Congress in Houston, with 2000 Zoroastrians from around the world attending. This was the largest congress ever, which is held every 4 years and nobody has beaten our attendance as yet. At present I am the editor-in chief of the quarterly publication FEZANA Journal, holding this position since 2003, and chair their scholarship program. |
At present I am the editor-in chief of the quarterly publication FEZANA Journal, holding this position since 2003, and chair their scholarship program 
I joined Zonta International in Ibadan, Nigeria. Zonta International is an international organization which promotes the status of women by empowering them. After immigrating to Montreal, I transferred my membership to Zonta Montreal. I was elected President of the Montreal Club, then elected as the District Governor, the International Chair, Status of Women. The latter position expanded my horizon as to the discrimination against women and girls because of their gender. I always try to promote girls and women in any projects we have, work with women to empower them and always patronize businesses run by women.
That is the story of my life, I have witnessed many changes in the political, social environmental arenas, always tried to live with a vision and a purpose, to leave this world a little better than what I found it 83 years ago. Thank you for reading this. |