Misc

I recently traveled to Iran with my grandmother. I will be posting several videos from my trip produced with my mother Davar Ardalan. One of the most remarkable places we visited was Helen's Mountain, named in honor of my great grandmother Helen Jeffreys Bakhtiar of Boise, Idaho. They were commemorating her work as a public health nurse in Iran in the 1950's. --- You can learn more about Helen at www.helenoftus.com. Located in the central Zagros Mountains of Iran, near the ancient city of Isfahan, the area around Helen's Mountain or "Kohe Helen," is home to a wide variety of species, including brown bears, leopards, wildcats and eagles. Iranian environmentalists have marked the mountain and the surrounding forests as a protected area. In the 1950s, Helen was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. She traveled to Iran to serve as a public health nurse as part of President Truman's Point Four Program. The rural improvement project sent American experts in agriculture, health and education to work in villages in less-developed countries. -- Samira Ghaffari