Middle East Focus: The Freest Couple in All Arabia, a Rare Gulf Love Story……

Arabia Deserta

The Freest Couple in All Arabia, a Rare Gulf Love Story……

“Sarah and Salem draw a lot of attention in the Eastern Province as they around in their wheelchairs."I chose Sara because she is well aware of her condition and of the best ways to deal with it and challenge all the obstacles she might meet "Salem. For years, Salem and Sara used to meet by coincidence in shopping malls. He liked how independent she was despite her disability and she liked how sociable he was. Their families met and he proposed to her. Shortly after, they got engaged then married...... Sara works in the administration of a local school and comes back from work and prepares lunch and eats with her husband. She leads a life that is just like those of other women around her. “We have so many things to do,” she said. “We go out more than once a week. We go shopping in malls and hang out in cafes.” Sara added that she might not have been happy had she married an able man………

“The only thing Salem complains about is the minimal attention given to the disabled both by the public and private sectors. Lack of services for the handicapped leads many of them to live in seclusion and suffer from loneliness………. He also demanded that the financial assistance given to the handicapped be raised as it does not exceed 800 riyals ($213) a month and called for changing the policy which stipulates that the assistance be stopped as soon as the disabled gets a job.“If the disabled finds a job, it will not be more than 2,000 riyals ($533) per month.”……..” al-watan (Saudi)

Probably one of the few really ‘normal’ marriages around. Probably the freest couple in the country: the goons of the religious police probably leave them alone to wheel around freely.
But handicapped assistance of $213 a month in a rich petroleum utopia! They probably provide more help than that even in uber-Darwinist Texas! But what about the pre-existing condition: a health insurance agent might ask?
Cheers
mhg
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