Dr Nadia a pioneer in endocrinology in Kuwait
A scientifically oriented young doctor specialist
This is the first in a series of articles on Dr Nadia Sulaiman Al Ali, a scientifically oriented young doctor specialist, consultant physician and endocrinologist, Head Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Amiri Hospital, MoH, Kuwait
— Editor
In school her favorite subjects were science and physics. At graduation from high school in 1978 with high marks she enrolled at the Kuwait University majoring in Medical Science at the Faculty of Medicine, in 1985 she got her MBBSc.
That year same year Dr Nadia started her working career as trainee at the Amiri Hospital, MOH. In 1986, she became an Assistant Registrar in General Medicine and by 1989 she was promoted to register in the Kuwait Board of General Medicine.
Lidia Qattan
Disrupted
Dr Nadia was working at the Amiri Hospital when the Iraqi invasion shattered her peace of mind and disrupted her routine. In the early morning of that fateful day, the 2nd of August 1990, she was suddenly awakened by the blast of a bomb hitting her neighbor’s house; there were also heavy shootings going on in the neighborhood and that made her very apprehensive of the danger she and her family were in.
The shock of the first day of invasion and the terrible feeling she felt in discovering her homeland had been invaded lasted all through the seven long months of invasion till finally her country was set free, only then she felt safe, indeed she felt reborn .
Dr Nadia was pregnant at the time of the invasion, her first born, a little girl was barely one-year-old; inspite of her condition she felt committed to attend her clinic at the Amiri Hospital. But the constant surveillance of the Iraqis and their attitude towards Kuwaiti doctors made her feel so miserable that after the first few days she decided to stay at home.
As most Kuwaiti families during the summer holiday her own people were abroad, only one of her brothers and her sister were in Kuwait, hence she felt more reassured when the family of her husband moved into her house for mutual support; the comfort she felt with so many people around sharing her household responsibilities made those terrible months of uncertainty more bearable, even pleasant, in spite of the lurking danger and the occasional inspections to her house by the Iraqi Mukhabarat looking for anything incriminating.
With the other women in the house Dr Nadia got busy cooking or looking after the kids while the men were providing what was needed in the house. Incidentally on the first commemoration of the invasion: the 9th of August at the time of the evening prayer the whole town and suburbs resounded with the shouting: “Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar coming from every house .“This made the Iraqi so furious that they started shooting warning anyone opening a window or seen on the flat roof of his house he would be shot.
Unaware of the warning Dr Nadia and her husband hearing the sound of an ambulance in the street, opened a window to see what was happening; in that instant the firing of a bullet barely missed her bosom and caught her husband’s arm. Fortunately the wound was only skin deep, but his clothing stained with blood was kept as a reminder of that evening in which they almost met their fate.
Keeping a low profile; because the Iraqi Mukhabarat were looking for doctors, and many in danger of being arrested fled the country, Dr Nadia went through the seven months of invasion in comparative safety; but her biggest worry was delivering her baby when the moment would come.
Perhaps because of the shock from the first day of the invasion the arrival of her baby was 2 weeks overdue, hence she had to be taken to the Sabah Maternity hospital in spite it was swarming with Iraqis.
Fortunately no complications accompanied the arrival of her baby, and barely an hour after he was born Dr Nadia left the hospital with her baby still unwashed. At their safe arrival the sun and turning day into night.
When water and electricity were cut off and life became grimmer, being with so many people around it was indeed comforting.
Realizing he was losing the war the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein began threatening he would use his chemical weapons. Taking the threat seriously Dr Nadia and the other women in the house got ready for such an emergency, preparing masks with charcoal in it to absorb the chemical, sealing doors and windows with wet towels, and when the ground attack began they criss-crossed with tapes all the window panes to avoid being scattered by the blast .
There was a basement in the house, the safest place to be in case of bombarding, hence during the ground attack everyone gathered there. In these cold of winter nights with kerosene lamps lighting the darkness everyone was sitting around the fire-box drinking tea, passing the time in conversation or playing cards, while the little ones were falling asleep on their mother’s lap. Those nights brought Dr Nadia back to the memories of the older days when people were gathering around the flickering light of an oil-lamp chatting, playing cards, sharing their moments and having a good time, contented in their humble surroundings. In those moments of lurking danger and uncertainties those memories overshadowed all her feelings of apprehension and worrying. Even on the last night, in which was feared a street to street fighting and the spectrum of death hovered on every soul there was a feeling of surrender to God’s will that made her feeling at peace with herself and the world.
For months the Iraqis had prepared themselves in expectation of a street to street fighting, digging trenches and building bunkers everywhere; but their labor of months suddenly came to nothing when the Iraqi army was ordered to retreat. The rumbling of heavy machinery on the highway near home and the unusual Iraqi activity on the street got everyone speculating on what was happening.
To be continued