Maha and Obama

Over 10 years ago, Dr. Maha al-Muneef told me a story that’s still playing in my head. While studying and training with a large team of doctors in an American hospital, a child came into the emergency room. Upon examining the child, they discovered that he suffered a hard blow, fracturing his hand and skull and sending him into a coma. Dr. Maha says that she asked to meet with the boy’s parents. She met a young Saudi man wearing a sleeveless shirt and, at his side, a woman wearing a black cloak covering her from head to toe, trembling, perhaps from fear or worry. The trembling woman didn’t speak a word of English, which made it difficult for her to communicate with others. Dr. Maha took her to a side room and asked her what had happened. The woman said that her husband was drunk and took the boy by his feet and beat his head against the wall several times, perhaps annoyed by the boy’s crying. The mother had come with her husband to America without knowing any English and without any relatives in America. The police were called to arrest the father and refer him to the courts. The problem was left with the mother. Her boy was to stay in intensive care while her husband was taken to jail. Dr. Maha offered to have the woman stay at her house until someone from her family could come from Saudi Arabia to help her while she waited for her husband’s trial. Even though the boy was brain damaged, the employers who sent the father over to America to work tried to handle the issue by returning them all to Saudi Arabia and dropping the case. Dr. Maha forwarded the boy’s case on when they returned.

I recall this story today as I see a picture of Maha al-Muneef, Doctor and Executive Director of the National Family Safety Program, receiving the International Women of Courage award, awarded by the U.S. State Department in appreciation for her efforts to combat family violence. As she was unable to travel to America to receive the award, U.S. President Obama was keen on presenting it to her during his short trip to Saudi Arabia two days ago.

I see a picture of President Obama and Dr. Maha on the front pages of Saudi newspapers. I realize that Maha al-Muneef has, for many years, been working toward a solution for those children whom she has treated. Family violence is one of the most difficult things children are subjected to, especially when fathers are the ones causing the problem. The very humanity of fathers and mothers has been damaged. They have lost all sense and their emotions have been hardened. They will hurt the people closest to them, whether their children or their wives.

Maha did not only work toward healing children as a member of the American Board of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology and when she returned to serve in one of the largest Saudi hospitals. She’s also set out to take on something greater: protecting those children who come into the emergency room by offering a program which seeks to establish an environment in which aggressors are deterred and legally punished. The program also educates those who have not yet had to come into the emergency room — those people who otherwise have no complaints.

Over the past 10 years, Maha al-Muneef has worked with a crew of men and women in order to take powerful action in the midst of a society that doesn’t believe in civic engagement. If it were not for the work of a highly professional and educated pediatrician, working to evoke an overwhelming sense of social responsibility with fervent consciences and informed minds, this program of protecting children from harm would not succeed.

Maha al-Muneef is a courageous woman of distinction in our country. I will not say that such is rare in our society, because we have many talented women bearing the sensibilities and high skills of Dr. Maha al-Muneef. This is our fortune, our joy, and our honor. Because of this, Obama made a stop during his trip — so busy with important political engagements — in order to present the award to Maha al-Muneef, considering it a great opportunity to put before the media and public opinion. Because of the attention brought on by the award, more people will consider the work done by this courageous woman and the issue for which she has worked so hard: dealing with family violence and the harming of children. The apathetic will come to realize that we are facing a problem: More than 576 children have been victimized in the past year, not including victims of unreported cases.

We can’t just say “thanks” to Maha al-Muneef. “Thanks” is not enough. We must have so much gratitude for what she’s done. I know that she is a mother, a wife and a doctor. She still found time for this endeavor. She added to her responsibilities that of stopping violence against children, while some women are simply content just to fix dinner for their family, paying no attention to the trouble outside their home. I want to say “thank you” to Obama. He found time to honor this courageous woman of ours. Now we must ask of other officials: What help and support will you offer this woman and her work?