A Middle East Expedition

Portraits of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia are everywhere.

As we rode in our bus, armed guards front and rear, Tariq gave us a running commentary on his country.

• Contrary to popular belief, there are many foreigners working in Saudi Arabia.

• Desert sand comes in three colors - white, brown, and red.

• Education is free for all children. There are separate schools for boys and girls. Buses are provided for the girls. Boys walk. All college students are given a $300 monthly allowance by the government.

• There is free health care and medicine for all in government hospitals. There are also private for- pay hospitals.

• Gasoline costs 52¢ a gallon. Water costs $1.20 a gallon.

• Marriages are arranged by the girl's mother. Engagements last three years. During this time the man and women buy a home and furniture.

• Homes have two dining rooms - one for women, one for men - and two living rooms - one for women, one for men.

• The first question asked by the judge of any accused person is, "Do you believe in Allah and accept Mohammed as his only prophet?"

This young lady places the flowers in boxes for shipment.

• Headdresses are functional in that they protect against wind and sand. The cord is used to hobble the camel. Tribes from the north wear red headdresses; tribes from the south wear black.

We stopped in the middle of the desert outside of Tabuk (The Land of Gideon) at Astra Supply & Trading Corp., a company started by King Abdullah with American aid in 1975. Today it is "privately owned" and sells its products throughout the Middle East. According to Tariq's description, it is a remarkable example of what Arabian ingenuity can do in a desert with no oil and no water.

The original purpose was to grow flowers and trees for the Saudi cities. They drilled a well into an aquifer a mile deep in the desert wasteland. Voila!

Water enough to plant flowers and trees. They needed fertilizer so they brought in goats, chickens, and cattle. Voila!

Linda can find a bargain anywhere, even in a shop in Saudi Arabia.

New products - meat, milk, and eggs. To feed the livestock, they planted grains. Voila! Another product.

On and on and on. More products, more needs. So many products to get to market. Voila! A fleet of trucks. An oversupply of goods. Voila! A network of supermarkets.

Today, Astra Supply & Trading Corp. employs over 5,000 people living on the property in homes fully furnished with all modern amenities. Their products include vegetables, quail, animal feed, fertilizer, processed food, baked goods, irrigation systems, pharmaceutics, steel structures, polymers, and even blankets, pillows, and towels. It is a miracle in the desert, a lesson for us all.

Next week: Saudi Arabia Traditional)

 

This man ar ranges the flowers in bunches pr ior to being wrapped. This man explains how Astra Supply & Trading Corp. began and operates. The Astra Supply & Trading Corp. ships hundreds of boxes of flowers to the Middle East and Europe each day.