In an interesting and revealing statement, the director general of Civil Defense Department in Dammam, Hamad Al-Joeid told Okaz and Al-Watan newspapers last week that safety regulations in girls' schools in the Eastern Province leave much to be desired. He warned about the silence over fires in girls' schools saying that things might take a dangerous turn. According to Al-Joeid, six fires have taken place in girls' schools in the Eastern Province since the beginning of the school year.
The director said there are many reasons for those fires that have not claimed any lives so far. He cited electrical faults as one of the main reasons for the six incidents as most of those fires were caused by faulty electrical meters and inexperienced guards who are not ready to deal with emergencies.
He added that due to the rules set by the General Presidency for Girl's Education in the Kingdom, headmistresses and female teachers are not allowed to contact the Civil Defense Department. Presidency's regulations, he said, stipulate that Civil Defense employees can only visit girls' schools when there is an official from the presidency watching over. He noted that as the Civil Defense teams' visits usually take place at night, it has been difficult to get a representative of the presidency to attend those visits.
In his interview, the director general said that the presidency has not been responsive to the Civil Defense Department's demands that the fences erected at the front of girls' schools be removed and that emergency exits be made for each school. Obviously some schools still do not have emergency exits!
To go back to the points raised by the director general, it seems that the presidency does not grasp the requirements of safety. According to the director's interview, accidents happened in several schools due to lack of coordination and carelessness on the part of the presidency.
It is only logical to conclude from the interview that the presidency seems to value the social protocol more than the safety and lives of the girls in our schools. Why else would they prevent headmistresses and teachers from contacting the Civil Defense Department? What does that imply? The hidden meaning of that rule is simply offensive and derogatory to women.
Why would not the presidency make sure that each school has an emergency exit and that the premises are constantly checked for safety measures? There is only one answer to all these questions, which denotes a combination of carelessness and bureaucracy and rigidity.
Maybe the presidency's officials have forgotten the school fire in Makkah that took place six years ago and resulted in the death of 15 girls, but for the rest of us that fire was a tragic reminder of what happens when you blindly follow absurd social laws. The girls who died in that fire were not allowed to get out of the school because they were not wearing abayas, and the rule says that women should not walk out in the street without their abayas. That was the rule and it was followed blindly. It did not matter that that adherence to the rule killed innocent girls. Should we wait for another tragic incident to make sure that our girls are safe?
Now six years after that tragic incident, it seems that the same spirit is in control here, when the schools do not follow safety regulations and measures. Are we to conclude that girls' safety is not on top of the directorate's agenda?
Thank you Mr. President
Tuesday night was filled with anticipation and excitement. A group of Arabs who live in London was following the progress of American white arguing for and against McCain and Obama. The trend was overwhelmingly in favor of Obama. What do you think, I was asked. I replied instantly: Obama - an answer that sparked a question and sarcasm as well. Why do we Arabs care so much for Obama? What difference will the American election make to us?
As politics has never been my favorite topic, I guess my reaction was surprising. But my answer was, "It's hope I am supporting - the very idea that barriers can be broken."
The inspiration is the main thing.
In his acceptance speech, Obama talked about Ann Cooper, a 106-year-old African American woman who cast her ballot yesterday. She had witnessed times when women were not allowed to vote, she had suffered discrimination and lived through tough times. But she lived over a hundred years to see changes happening, she saw the day when her voice counted, when a black American was elected president. She saw the fulfillment of dreams of many generations.
What Obama did was to inspire the whole world, and I have to say that a I am a firm believer in his motto "yes we can", and believe more than ever that it is possible to change things for the better if we work hard and believe in our abilities.
