MINA, 7 January 2007 — According to the Ministry of Health, 37 percent of the recipients of health-care services during the Haj that concluded last week were female and this Haj showed a considerable increase in the number of Saudi women taking part in the ministry’s pilgrimage operation.
“This year we had 861 Saudi women workers, an 11 percent increase over two years ago,” said Khaled Al-Mirghalani, the ministry spokesman. “The number included physicians and nurses. Saudi women represented a third of about 2,500 female staff that took part in the operation.”
The ministry, said Al-Mirghalani, actively recruits women to work during the Haj. “Incentives included stipends, priority in training and promotion opportunities and Ministry of Interior honorary medals,” he pointed out.
Dr. Isa Khalufa, a physician, said it was the second time that she took part in the Haj operation in her 20-year career. “I was motivated by the idea of serving the pilgrims, plus encouragement from my husband,” she said. “I learned a lot and gained more experience, especially working under pressure. But apart from that, pleasing the guests of the God was the most single important reward for me.”
Dr. Nida Abdulilah Saiedi, an OB-Gyn, said this was the first Haj she has worked. “I participated in health care service in Haj for the first time,” she said.
“When I first told my relatives that I am participating in the Haj service, they were reluctant to let a female member of the family to go on her own to work. And they were worried about me contracting diseases during Haj.
“But they relented later. Anyway, I stayed away from home as I worked as a resident physician and they had got used to it,” she said.
Saiedi said she had “an excellent opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the ER.” This helped her to improve her competency in dealing with emergency cases, she added.
Basma Ali Asyouni, a nurse, overcame her reluctance to work during Haj when her father wanted her to serve the pilgrims. “And my mum wanted me to be self-reliant. Besides my supervisor, who served many times in Haj, encouraged me to go saying that I will have wonderful experience there. So, I did, and he was right. I had great time serving the pilgrims.”
It was the sixth Haj participation for Kholoud Al-Hudaihid, a nurse. “In the beginning I met with strong resistance from my parents. That was not because I was going to serve the pilgrims, but because they feared for my safety.”
But I got more courageous year after year and their worries turned out to be baseless, she said.
