Page 19 - History of Arabian Mission 1926-1957

"In our extended tour, we viol ted Kuwait, that beloved city of the
Aruba. Before tills we have related to our readers about thlo city and Its The women's hospital showed increasing appreciation by the women of
ruler. We have spoken to them about the doctor of the American liocpital and Kuwait, who came in larger numbers. Many of them now brought their children
about the minister, the evangelist. Then we reported the dlscuosiono, politi­ in the early 6tages of illness, instead of trying native treatments first.
cal and social, which took place between us. Confidence in the hospital was strikingly demonstrated when in the absence of
Dr. Esther Barny on vacation, many women were seen by Dr. Mylrea. A member of
the ruling family was again an inpatient, and likewise a former Sheikh of
"Now there may be among our readers men who think it strange that these
foreigners should be in this faithful city... .For this reason we deemed it fit­ Zobeir.
ting to speak in short about the American Evangelistic Mission and its good work,
so highly praised in Kuwait." In 1932 there was one of the worst epidemics of smallpox ever known in
Kuwait. Dr. Esther Barny wrote: "It is hard to think of a town of fifty
thousand in which scarcely a house escaped the disease, which was of a fatal
The traveller went on to describe the opening of Kuwait to the Mission
by Sheikh Mubarak, his assistance to them in obtaining land, and his constant type. There was not the slightest attempt to isolate the cases. The municipal
government has opened vaccinating centers where their doctor and I have been
friendship and support. He says naively:
vaccinating every day. The final effort has been to vaccinate in the Koran
schools. I have visited eight girls' schools and will try to cover them all."
"Sheikh Mubarak was an executive and without timidity. So he was able
to bring those foreigners into his country and extend to them his goodwill. He The report for 1933 6ays: "It la interesting to note the growth of
was able to persuade his people that what he did was great good, and that in medical work for women through the last fourteen years, since the present build­
spite of the fact that the people of Kuwait do not look withihvor on foreigners ing was erected. For years it was a rare thing for a woman to spend a night ;
and that those who came were foreign missionaries.
under our roof. Now they come freely and of their own accord. Obstetrical work
has gro in numbers and in favor with the community. Hospital deliveries and
"The Americans in Kuwait landed in this place in answer to the request presaxal care all enter into the growth of this department."
of the ruler, and they established two hospitals in it. In these they relieve
the pains of the sick, and by the hands of the physicians prevent the tears of In 1954 Dr. Mylrea told of his efforts to prevent scurvy among pearl
) the afflicted. These are the ones who forsook their own country for a land divers, caused by a vitamin deficiency in their diet. In place of a cheap vege­
strange to them in language, social standing and religion, in order that they table oil for their rice, he persuaded diving masters to provide lime juice,
might serve man without blemish and self-interest."
vinegar, and butter, and at the end of the diving season had the satisfaction
of seeing that nearly al 1 who had followed his advice had practically no signs
Of this period Dr. Scudder wrote many years later: "The hospital was
regarded (at first) as the last resort of the diseased, a place where he went of the dread disease.
when all the incantations of his holy men and their potions, every system of During these years the poverty in Kuwait was intense, and the hospitals, 1
branding and cupping, and all the most drastic of purges, had been in vain. It '
was a place that swallowed up the sick when they were in the very depths of though rich in spiritual and physical results, were poor in dollars and cents.
despair and despondency. Mr. Barny wrote in 1935: "The large city of Kuwait has found a way out of its
poverty and loss of trade by smuggling. During the summer it was said that ten ; '
thousand bags of sugar alone went out of here monthly. No wonder the neighbor­
"It began to enter into the consciousness of the Kuwaiti, however, that ing countries protested bitterly. The long looked-for oil development came a :
not all of those who entered the hospital at death's door died. Somehow the step nearer when the concession was signed, but there is no news as to when
medicines and the devil-inspired machinery of the doctor often brought about operations are to begin. This year the pearl season brought little profit.
the cure that had been despaired of. The hospital gradually lost its aura of :
mystery and terror and Dr. Mylrea came to be known affectionately as 'our By 1938 the new development was well advanced and the annual report :
father. I M
stated: "In Kuwait's maelstrom of increasing prosperity, the influx of many '
foreigners, of political friction and unrest and of ardent Arab nationalism,
In 1928 a small war took place between the townspeople of Kuwait and 1 I
the Arab6 of the interior, which resulted in the men's hospital being com­ the Mission will have to carry on its work."
mandeered for the treatment of the wounded. The largest ward was requisitioned In 1939 the Olcott Memorial Hospital for women was opened, with the
for a member of the ruling family, who was the leader of Kuwait's fighting men Ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad al Jabir al Sabah perfoiming the ceremony, and a 1
and one of the most desperately wounded. After a long siege he made an excel­ new era was begun in our work for women and children.
lent recovery, which increased confidence in the hospital.
!
By 19*40 Dr. Mylrea wrote: "The chief material need in Kuwait is for
The following year the Mission again cared for the wounded of desert
O battles, and received official thanks from Baghdad for its service to Iraqi a larger men's hospital. This will indicate that, despite the presence of a ;
government hospital, the medical missionary is in greater demand than ever."
tribesmen who were injured in attacks by desert tribes. Stab wounds and gun­
shot wounds were being attended throughout the year. A short term nurse was appointed to the woman's hospital, all of whose
expenses were met by the Kuwait Oil Company, by a friendly arrangement which
The summer's pearl dive used to cause a slight slump in the clinic assured .them of the mission's medical care for their personnel.
numbers but none whatever in the number of inpatients.
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