He speaks Persian, Pashto, Hindi, Dari, Urdu, French, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.

He holds a Masters of math, science and physics education from the University of Philippines, and was once the head of the physics department at Kabul University.

Now Mohammad Alfaz Salimi drives for East End Taxi and says he's content with his lot in life.

"I enjoy it, I'm proud of it. This is my job and I'm self-supportive. I pay my taxes and I can support my family," he says smiling. "I'm very happy and I don't have any negative feelings. I appreciate the people of Canada, the government of Canada and this democratic country."

Salimi is unsinkable. The pile of rejection letters he's kept from schools saying they had no vacancies for teaching positions is nearly an inch thick. He submitted the applications after obtaining a letter from the ministry of education recognizing his credentials and certifying him to teach.

After 24 years of working in Canada in unskilled jobs, Salimi remains undaunted by his experiences. He doesn't let his disappointments creep up on the road where he's been driving for the past six years — negative thinking is useless, he says. Instead, he morphs his cab into a rolling classroom whenever he can, offering students ballpoint pens or discounted fares with the hope of motivating them.

He talks about his experiences of playing Good Samaritan with pride. There was the time he noticed a frantic mother holding a baby and waving him down in the dead of winter. Despite being dispatched for another call, he picked the mother up. Her baby was sick and when they got to the hospital, the praise from the doctor for getting the baby to the hospital so quickly was all the reward he wanted.Another time he tracked down the owner of a lost wallet, and returned it to her home. She was in tears, worried about having to replace all her cards. That's what the job is about, he says.

"I enjoy helping my people. Like old people, they need help from younger people and I feel very fresh, comfortable. It means I did my job."

Salimi can carry on a conversation in the languages of Toronto because he makes a point to learn from his fellow cabbies. Education never ends, he says. He keeps a clean cab, and prides himself on his customer service, handing out newspapers and a candy or two to his favourite passengers.

Life is good, he concludes. He swells with pride when talking about his three young children. Eight-year-old Narges, for instance, was chosen out of 300 children at her school to write in the school bulletin about their trip to the Science Centre.

"My work (bears) fruit with the children," he says. "I am happy with everything in life."