HER photo appeared recently on the front page of a local daily and news stories about her were carried by most newspapers and Internet sites. She is a medical doctor from this country and her name is Nora Ahmed Rashad who makes us all very proud.
I was keen to follow up news about her so I browsed the Net and learned that the news about her success as a medical doctor appeared for the first time last year — long before her picture was splashed on the front page of a local newspaper. She is 28 years old and has discovered a treatment that will save limbs from amputation and a cure for arthritis and gangrene in diabetics without surgical intervention.
She comes from a family who made education their first goal in life. Her father is Dr. Ahmed Rashad, the former head of forensic laboratory at the Interior Ministry. Her mother holds a doctorate. All her brothers and sisters are working in the field of medicine.
She studied medicine in Cairo. The Italian government granted her a scholarship so she could continue her studies for a master’s degree in Italy where she is now working. She was the youngest girl to obtain such a degree in medicine. She is the fourth woman worldwide to treat arteries. She was chosen the best lecturer from among more than a thousand doctors who participated in an international conference on vascular surgery in France.
Is this not enough to make us proud of this Saudi girl? More than that, the medical research centers around the world instantly recognize her name. Many Arab and European countries have made lucrative offers to her including permanent residence, nationality, financial security to her and her family and a salary which is more than three times her present salary. (If she came here and got a job, she will not be offered a quarter of what she is getting now, as any male or female doctor here will testify). The most attractive offer came from the Harvard University. They want to establish a medical center in the subject of her rare specialization. She turned down all these offers because she loves her country and is dreaming of establishing such a center here. She believes that her country should have the first claim on her expertise.
Dr. Nora, I beseech you openly not to come here now. I fear that you may be shocked by the realities on the ground — realities that will stand in the way of you realizing your dreams. The center in your dreams will be lost somewhere in the corridors of official negligence and bureaucratic delay. You will not find the encouragement to continue your research. You will not be able to find the latest data you may need. You should know this is a country from where people go abroad for education and money. You had the privilege of being trained under the Egyptian cardiologist of international fame, Dr. Magdi Yacoub. Stay where you are and be an ambassador to your country like Dr. Hayat Sindi in the British universities, Dr. Thuraya Obaid in the UN and the nuclear scientist Ibtissam Badris who is working in an organization for nuclear research for peaceful purposes.
All the scientific accomplishments which you have made and are recognized by the international research centers will not be of any use to you here because the woman is still viewed as an incomplete person.
If your father is away and you are invited to attend a scientific conference abroad, you will not be able to travel because in this case you will not be able to obtain a silly paper from him stamped by a government department telling the authorities that he does not object to your traveling alone! If you were asked to rescue a patient and have to drive a car, you will be arrested by the patrol police and taken into custody. You will not be released until your father comes to the police headquarters and signs a paper saying that you will not commit this crime again! If your passport has expired, you will not be able to renew it if your father is not around or if he is sick. The fact that like me you have foreign servants and drivers under your sponsorship and you make all official papers for them all by yourself will not be of any help in this matter. Paradoxically, a teenage Saudi boy can sponsor you! So hang your invitation in the kitchen and bite your fingers! In most cases your identity card will not do you any good since your face will be covered and you will need someone else to recognize you. This is what happened to me when I asked an official at a communications company to give me my telephone bill.
If you are lucky enough and have a loving husband who is joking with you in the car, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice will follow you because those who laugh and joke in the car cannot be husband and wife!
My compatriot: If you insist on coming back home try to get yourself American or European citizenship. This is the only way for you to win the respect and financial rewards a professional of your status deserves. Alternatively you may try the Chinese or Indian citizenship because these two countries are expected to dominate the world very soon.
