Page 125 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (3)_Neat

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14 NEGLECTED ARABIA |

two stories high but built of mud, had every dark, dingy store rouni
filled with operative cases eight days after our arrival. Dr. Dame is an
energetic surgeon and worked from sun to sun. But it seemed that the
more he operated the more people turned up for operations. The average
run of patients was one hundred and twenty treatments daily and seven
major operations. The doctor often operated till nine o’clock in the
evening and even then Arabs wondered why he did not work till mid.
night. They seemed to think that an operation is a quick slash of the
abdomen; a minute's look in, and a sewing up of the skin as they do their
gmmy bags. But alas I how many were diailluhiuued before ii win ajj
over! And yel very few squirmed at ihe feel of Ihe needle ami ih|
knife. Most of them had probably fell worse pains lhan ibis. Tht
wonder was that of all ihe 495 cases of operations there were no infee*
tions. • If our spotless nurses at home had seen the dark, smelly dungeon*
that were used for wards, they would have exclaimed in disgust dm <
this was an impossibe situation. The doctor had to deal with a situation,
however, and not with a theory. He had to do the best he could. The
patients were all happy together and none suffered with nervous disorder,
as would have been the case among civilized people.
As usual we opened our clinics in the morning with Scripture reading
and prayer. The reaction to this was soon discovered. The women in
their absentmindedness responded with an “Amen” to our reading and sing,
ing. This, for the devoted Moslems, was too much. The doctor received
stinging letters from the judge. They were directed to him in this wise:
“O doctor, we hear that the padre is reading to our people. We forbid
him from so doing, until he gets permission from the Imam. Do y<>Q
know, doctor, that had it not been for you, the padre would not hav*
been allowed to enter the Imam’s territory?” Meanwhile the local sheikh
came to us and said that he would settle the matter with the judge, for
we were his guests. “But,” said he, “padre, you had better not read and
pray before the people. You can do that by yourselves.” Never in our
mission had we been restricted in this wise and the doctor, above aH,
determined to stick to his guns. The sheikh was told that if we were
not to have public prayers, where we ask God’s blessing on the day*
work, there would be no public clinic either. Ihe work would auio»
matically cease. This became the talk of the town. The feeling becamt
tense. Our helpers were insulted and their lives threatened. Servant*
of the judge came around lu whip boys out of our compound. Keligioui
leaders came spying around to see what our next step would be. Wc 4*4
not know and nobody knew. Seeing men with guns in the streets at a3
hours of the day and night somehow suggested that these arms were nu
altogether for ornament. A human life in these parts is quite cheap, and
one is as cheap as another. Only we were Americans; that meant some­
thing, and for our part, we were out if possible for a victory. Tb«
matter came to a focus when the leaders decided to hold a meeting it
the public mosque. A friend of ours was called in and he defended vu
nobly while he was reprimanded for being friendly t° Jhe Lhristun^
Some of the leaders said that the padre must not leave the house at
Others said that he might go out with the doctor but then he must rm
speak with any one. Still others said that women should not be allowed
to enter the clinic without their'-hjuLsbands. Because they disagreed »

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