LUSTROUS HAIR;TRY CAMEL URINE

For those of you who are acquainted with me on a personal level will know that I love 'the ships of the desert'. At least once a month I go out with my Saudi friends to the desert to ride camels. Saudis in general love their camels too and they take much pride in looking after their camel herds.In Saudi Arabia camels are utilized for their meat, milk, wool and of course for camel racing. Many Saudi families also have camels as pets.In rural Africa, in areas like Mali and Djibouti,camels are still utilized to transport blocks of salt from the desert.

According to the Huffington Post, camel milk is the closest you can get to a human mother's milk, with ten times more iron and three times more vitamin C than cow's milk. I was quite surprised when I seen camel milk for the first time. It is very thick and frothy and from a distance it looks like thick fresh cream. Camel milk has numerous medicinal properties and health benefits.Low fat camel milk not only contains healthy vitamins and minerals but is also a rich source of insulin. The milk reportedly has a quart of insulin in each liter, making it a potential treatment option for diabetics.There are also claims that the milk can be used to treat crohn's disease, autism, improve male virility and also treat a variety of allergies.Camel yoghurt is also manufactured from the milk and camel milk chocolates are also produced by a company called Al Nassma. From a beauty perspective, camel milk is believed to treat a variety of skin conditions thereby improving skin tone and reducing wrinkles. I have a patient of mine who is in her mid forties. I always compliment her on her flawless skin tone. Her secret believe it or not is a few drops of camel milk and camel urine mixed with a little bit of aqueous cream. She told me that this mixture keeps her skin germ free and also gives her a lighter skin complexion. I guess this recipe will be able to rival 'fair and lovely'. She has asked me repeatedly to try this concoction for a few skin blemishes I developed after my skin burnt from incorrect dermatological products that were prescribed to me years ago. May be I should give it a try but I am not so sure if I really want camel milk and urine paste smeared on my face.Recently there has been much hype created about camel urine. In a 2009 article published in the Saudi gazette, it was mentioned that Saudi doctor, Faten Abdel-Rahman Khorshid has discovered that nano particles in the camel urine can attack cancer cells with tremendous success.Speaking to the Saudi Gazette, Dr. Khorshid claimed that she was inspired by Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) medical advice and that camel urine consists of natural substances that work to eradicate malignant cells and maintain the number of healthy cells in a cancer patient.“This treatment is not an invention, but rather, taken from our Prophet’s legacy,” she remarked. A Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari (2855) and Muslim (1671) claims that some people came to Madina and fell ill with bloated abdomens. The Prophet (pbuh) told them to combine the milk and urine of a camel and drink that, after which they recovered. A swollen abdomen may indicate edema, liver disease or cancer."

During the reign of Cleopatra, Egyptian and Arab women dipped their hair into camel urine to produce sleek and shiny hair. This practice is still carried out in today's times amongst Bedouin women with the belief that camel urine is efficacious against dandruff and other diseases of the scalp. It is also claimed that camel urine promotes hair growth thereby producing thicker, longer, stronger, and a more lighter lustrous looking crop of hair.Camel urine is also said to be an excellent potassium sparing diuretic. Whilst watching a documentary on travel channel a few days ago, I was quite amazed at the fact that the Samburu people of Kenya who are closely related to the Masaai people, drink cow and camel blood to survive. Meat is only eaten on very rare occasions.

It is only in recent times that many studies have been conducted on camel milk and camel urine. It is in general a very new field of study that many Saudi scientists have now undertaken to pursue.Already in India, Russia and Kazakhstan, patients are prescribed camel milk to treat a variety of diseases like, Diabetes, Crohn's disease and tuberculosis. With only minimal studies carried out thus far the possibilities are of course endless. By simply marveling at the sheer beauty of these animals and pondering over the variety of ways in which these animals are a benefit to mankind, I can not help but realize that this is the reason perhaps why God Almighty specifically mentions these creatures in the holy Quraan."Do they not look at the Camels, how they are made? And at the Sky, how it is raised high? And at the Mountains, how they are fixed firm? And at the Earth, how it is spread out? Therefore do you give admonition, for you are one to admonish." Quran-Al-Kareem: Surat al-Ghashiya ~ 17-21

Source:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009071143333

http://www.livestrong.com/article/409153-health-benefits-of-drinking-camel-milk/

http://goafrica.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1%2FXJ&zTi=1&sdn=goafrica&cdn=travel&tm=4833&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_p531.60.342.ip_&tt=29&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.al-nasma.com%2F

http://cougarclause.com/2012/02/strange-beauty/

http://hadhramouts.blogspot.com/2010/07/of-camel-urine-and-milk.html

Down Town Shopping

Women's Health Day Charity Event 2012

This was a function that was held earlier on in the year. I just did not have the time to upload the pictures on my blog. Since I am at home this morning with some free time on my hands, I decided to do a quick blog post of the event. It was certainly a fun filled entertaining afternoon. I will never forget this day simply because after the event I had to rush off home to prepare dinner and then head straight off to the airport to pick up mom who was arriving for her annual two month vacation in the Kingdom which is more like a mother daughter bonding experience and of course a shopping trip for mom.......

VISITING THE SICK IN SAUDI

The culture of visiting the sick in Saudi Arabia is very much the same to what I have experienced in South Africa especially amongst the South African Muslim community. Muslim families in South Africa are usually very close knit and hence when one family member is admitted to hospital it is not unusual to see the whole family gathering at the hospital including, uncle and aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews and oh yes let us not forget the 45th cousins, neighbours and the extended family as well. Gori Khala and Choti Khala will most probably take turns to cook up a storm for the patient preparing soup, kheer or badam dood ( almond milk) and oh yes there is always plenty of extra pies and samoosas for the visitors that drop by the hospital to visit the patient. The first time I visited a sick patient in a Saudi hospital was a few years ago. Ummi was a frail octogenarian Saudi woman. She hailed from a very well educated and illustrious family. Month after month she would accompany her son to the pharmacy to collect her medication. Over a period of time I got to know her pretty well. She was not very fluent in English but she spoke enough to make me understand what she was trying to say. Most of the time we would converse with each other in Arabic. Her youngest son is a medical engineer and is part of the Medevac transplant team. Her eldest son is a successful businessman owning a few well established companies.Her daughters are all married and scattered around the Kingdom. She has a daughter in Makkah, Jeddah, Damaam and of course Riyadh. Whilst visiting her daughter in Damaam, Ummi fell from a flight of stairs and fractured her femur bone. Ummi was hospitalized for a few days in Damaam and then asked to be transferred to our hospital as she is more familiar with the medical staff here. On the night she was admitted, I received a call from her son informing me of his mothers plight. The next day I decided to pass by the ward and visit Ummi. Before making my way to the hospital, I stopped by a flower shop to get Ummi a bouquet of flowers to cheer her up. Arriving at the ward I was quite flabbergasted at the number of visitors Ummi had. All her kids, grandchildren, son in laws, daughter in laws and extended family members were in attendance. Ummis daughter from Makkah was her Miraafiq. A Miraafiq is basically a "sitter";someone who stays with the patient in the hospital and makes sure that the patient is comfortable throughout their stay. The sitter will assist the nursing staff in terms of bathing the patient, feeding the patient and also taking the patient to the toilet. The sitter is usually a close family member or a relative although I have seen families hiring people to be sitters. A few minutes into my visit, Ummis eldest grandson arrived with his wife and new born baby. He lovingly kissed his grandmother on her forehead and hands as a sign of tremendous respect. They wheeled in a huge trolley that had a large pot of food on it. A beautiful big carpet was laid out on the floor and everyone was asked to partake in the food including the nurse on duty who was from New Zealand and was pretty new to the culture and customs of the country. After digging into the rice and chicken we ended the meal on a sweet note with an assortment of Arabic pastries and chocolates. Ummis two grandsons are huffaaz, meaning that they have memorized the entire Quraan. So after having lunch, they sat beside her and were reading verses of the Quraan. Ummis daughter from Makkah brought for her zam zam water as well and they were all encouraging her to drink as much water as possible.The Prophet (saw) said,“For whatever object Zam-Zam is drunk, that object will definitely be fulfilled. If one drinks it with the purpose of being cured, then Allaah Ta’ala will grant cure for the drinker, or if one drinks it for his thirst to be removed then Allaah Ta’ala will remove his thirst. Because it is the well of Jibraeel (alaihi salaam), and with it Allaah Ta’ala quenched the thirst of Hadhrat Ismaeel (alaihi salaam).

The nurse from New Zealand was astounded at the fact that the two grandsons kept on blowing over their grandmother after reciting verses of the Quraan. This is known as Ruqya. Ruqya is seeking a cure for any illness by reciting verses of the Quraan and praying to God Almighty. As reported in Sahih Bukhari, the Prophet Muhammed (saw) used to treat with ruqya saying, "O the Lord of the people! Remove the trouble. The cure is in Your Hands, and there is none except You who can remove it (the disease). "

Within Saudi culture tremendous emphasis is placed on being kind to the elderly and looking after old and aged parents. This stems from the fact that the Quraan has mentioned quite clearly how we should be treating our parents. In the Quran, there is a very beautiful description of how parents are to be treated; Allah Says: "And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as] 'uff' [i.e., an expression of irritation or disapproval] and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: 'My Lord! Have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.'" [Quran 17:23-24].

Many Saudi families hire full time nurses for a sick family member. I know of one family that has two nurses and five other helpers for the mother of the house who is mentally ill after falling from the third floor accidentally. She is cared for like a queen. Her sons are by her side throughout the day and her every wish is fulfilled. The beautician comes to the house once a week to make sure that she is properly groomed and before every Eid she has henna applied to her hair and hands. Every effort is made to keep her happy despite the fact that she is not well mentally and physically due to a slight paralysis. Unlike in South Africa, in Saudi all patients admitted to hospital are provided with their own private room. Privacy is of utmost importance. The rooms in our hospital are all elegantly decorated. Each room is furnished with state of the art medical equipment. The doctors and nursing staff visit the patient with a laptop that is mounted to a stand. The doctor is able to gain instant access to a patients medical records, x-rays and blood tests. The doctor is also able to enter a prescription for the patient which is sent to the pharmacy immediately through sophisticated computer programs. In general, the hospital strives to be a paperless environment.Each room also has a beautiful leather relaxing chair with a foot rest.The bathroom is also specifically designed to be patient friendly.

A few months after visiting Ummi in the hospital she passed away quite peacefully after the morning prayers whilst sitting on her rocking chair reciting verses of the Quraan. She was a remarkable human being. She took me like a daughter and made me feel very much a part of her family.She is one woman that I will never ever forget in my entire life. The day she passed away I was filled with an inner sadness and emptiness. I felt as though my own grandmother had passed away.May God Almighty have mercy upon her and grant her the highest stages of paradise. Ameen!!