August 3, 2003
Nurses book gives firsthand account of life in Saudi Arabia
Medford resident Shirley Ross doesn’t have to read an intelligence report to understand Saudi Arabia’s close ties to terrorism.
Indeed, even without reading the controversial 27 pages the Bush administration refuses to declassify in the thick report released last week on intelligence failures preceding the Sept. 11
attacks, she can tell you that al-Qaida would be right at home in Saudi.
"I’m not surprised there is a connection," she says. "They think we in the United States are all heathens and money mongers, that we’re not worth much."
Strong words, perhaps, but spoken by someone who has been there, done that.
Ross, 70, spent three years working as a registered nurse for the Saudi Ministry of Defense. Her account is literally an open book in the recently published "Eyes and Ears in Saudi."
She will hold a book signing at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland beginning at 11 a.m. Aug. 23. Published this year, the 176-page book sells for $24.95.
Although self-published, it is an interesting read, not unlike its author.
Raised on a homestead in Canada, she married Scotsman John Ross in 1956 and moved to California, raising three children.
They became American citizens and moved to the Rogue Valley in 1975, operating a grocery in Eagle Point. She graduated from what is now Southern Oregon University, becoming a registered nurse.
After John died in 1980 of cancer at age 46, she bought a home in Medford, a move that came with a $20,000 balloon payment.
With the payment looming on the horizon, she began looking for a way to increase her income. That’s when a nursing friend working in Saudi told her about high-paying jobs available in that
country. With her children fledged, Ross applied and was promptly hired.
She would work nearly three years at the Al Hada Hospital in Taif, the summer home of the royal family adjacent to the Red Sea. She returned to Medford late in 1985.
Uncle Sam didn’t offer a lot of support for its expatriates. She recalls a visit with a nursing friend to the American embassy in Jeddah.
"I asked what would happen to me if I make some kind of mistake and get put in jail," she recalls. "She told us, ‘You get in trouble — that’s your problem. We will
not help.’ That wasn’t very encouraging."
Because they were perceived as infidels, she and other "expats" — largely Yanks, Brits and Aussies — were not allowed to visit holy sites like Mecca, she observes.
Ross is a Christian but is quick to observe she would be opposed to our government adopting any religious stance.
"Freedom of religion is what makes our country so special," she stresses. "I think all people all over this world should live side-by-side peacefully with freedom of religion.
"But I don’t know if it is possible for the Saudis to do that," she adds. "Islam governs everything over there — their constitution, their government, their social rules,
every facet of life. It’s definitely a religious state."
The book talks about the severe punishments meted out at the local market place every Friday at noon. Beheadings were common.
She also found the culture could be cruel. Consider the 8-year-old girl brought in by her father. The girl was suffering from a high fever.
"She could hardly walk she was so sick," she recalls. "When I examined her, I found all these infected burn marks on her chest and back. I found out she had been burned with a hot
iron by her grandfather, who was trying to cure her high temperature."
Her father, who had a university degree from the United States, told an incredulous Ross that he couldn’t go against his father.
Saudi Arabia is a state where women are second-class citizens who could be imprisoned for simply driving a car, she says.
"I felt so sorry for them," she says. "But we weren’t allowed to speak to them unless we were introduced or they spoke to us first. Sometimes the men would lock them in their
homes."
Many endured beatings from the "religious police" who whacked them with sticks when they failed to dress according to code.
"The men treated us terribly," she says of the nursing staff.
"We didn’t wear veils. I couldn’t see through one well enough to walk without bumping into something."
Nurses in uniform waiting for a bus would be yelled at or spit on, she recalls.
"I got caught one time crossing a parking lot to get to my building," she says. "Some men working out back threw light bulbs at me because I didn’t have a veil.
"Those bulbs sounded just like gunshots when they exploded on the cement," she adds.
You can reach Paul Fattig at 776-4496or e-mail him at
pfattig@mailtribune.com
