WHAT is a community organizer? The name echoed during the entire year Barack Obama was campaigning for the presidency. He was a community organizer and an active member of society, a force of hope and energy. Do we have such individuals in the Middle East? And do we acknowledge such personalities and their force of power? Or we are afraid to admit that we fight everything that connects us unless there is financial gain!
In such times of desperate measures and economic crises, we do indeed need such characters in our Middle Eastern societies to pull us together. These characters, or persons, would have to come from the depth of the nation’s fabric — certainly not a bright flash like a falling star: Seen for a short time and then no more. We certainly need such dynamic people to be the movers and shakers of the new world. They might be young team leaders in universities or business leaders in markets and companies. They might be enthusiastic young writers or filmmakers. They might be watchers and passers. We need them more than we think or imagine for times of turmoil and depression are coming, and we cannot just wait and watch a flood of breakdowns in morals and spirit. We need community and country organizers such as we hope President-elect Obama will be, someone who will huff and puff life and energy into long dead spirits.
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Dear Nadia
My family has just joined me in Bahrain where I have rented a furnished apartment here after a long separation. I had to work hard in a big company in Dammam to earn my company’s trust. The challenge is that I drive each day over the causeway to go to work and I do the same after six when I finish. I am so exhausted when I reach home that I have no energy to enjoy my family’s company. I wanted to be together in Dammam, but my wife has no clue what accommodations are available in Saudi Arabia and she thinks there are no American schools in the Eastern Province. Can you help me with information about accommodation and schools? I would love them to join me in Dammam because I am very tired of the daily commute.
— Frank, Dammam
Dear Frank, I absolutely agree with you: A family should be together all the time. If your wife prefers an expatriate community which I think will be perfect for her, there is nothing like the available gated compounds. The compounds are all over the Eastern Province and vary from the small and cheap to the grand and posh. You can also find American schools in the Eastern Province. A good idea would be to check the places first and then bring your wife to check them out personally. A small note: Rents in Saudi Arabia are cheaper than in Bahrain.
