Saudi scholars learn, teach.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

It had been a long working day for the Saudi Arabian scholars visiting the University of Oregon on Thursday, but when James Bailey showed them the book scanner/reader at the Adaptive Technology Center, the three rallied with plenty of questions.

How much use does it get? Can it read slower? Is it English only? How much does it cost?

For Fatma Al-Kheraiji, who has a Ph.D. in special education, the center's systems for aiding disabled students were compelling.

She, Karema Bokhary and Hussah Al-Saif came to Eugene in June, thanks to an encounter last year with a University of Oregon instructor conducting teacher training in Saudi Arabia.

The oil-rich kingdom is about a fifth the size of the United States and borders the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and Yemen.

Leslie Opp-Beckmann, senior instructor and technology coordinator in the linguistics department's American English Institute, was in Riyadh, the capital, last year for workshops at the invitation of the Saudi Ministry of Education and the U.S. State Department.

Opp-Beckmann connected with the Saudi educators, who expressed an interest in a scholarly exchange with the University of Oregon.

"It seemed like a great opportunity," she said.

Since arriving two weeks ago, they've met with the vice provost for international affairs, faculty from the college of education, Mobility International, and the Knight Library media center staff members, among others.

Al-Saif, a former general director of education overseeing more than 100 women's teacher colleges, has her Ph.D. in geography and has already arranged to return to the UO for her sabbatical next year, she said.

Al-Kheraiji said she'd like to see some of her disabled students and their parents visit Eugene for a better understanding of the independence that disabled people have achieved here.

The computers and software at the Adaptive Technology Center intrigued her, from the magnifier enlarging text for low-vision students to the voice recognition software. Some Saudi schools make accommodations for those with disabilities, she said, but nothing like what she saw at the technology center.

"We aren't there yet," she said.

Bokhary, a science and English education specialist was impressed by a UO distance learning project teaching English to teachers in Thailand. She said she expects to take a proposal about the program to the Saudi minister of education.

On Thursday the three were also guest lecturers at the UO Office of International Affairs where there were plenty of questions about Saudi Arabian culture.

The speaking engagement gave them the opportunity to clarify some misunderstandings about Saudi women.

Bokhary said that many people assume Saudi women wear the long black robe known as the abaya for religious reasons, but that's incorrect. Islam requires that women be modest in their dress and cover their hair. But draping themselves in the abaya is a cultural tradition, not a religious one, she said.

And while it's true that women aren't permitted to drive cars in Saudi Arabia, their religion encourages both men and women to be educated.

Males and females attend separate schools, Bokhary said, with girls and young women receiving instruction from female teachers up through college. And education up through the university level is free, with college students also receiving a stipend to live on, she said.

After a busy week of meetings on campus the three women looked forward to taking Friday off. They planned to rent a car and spend a day on the Oregon coast. Bokhary, who lived for more than a decade in Canada, drives when she's not in Saudi Arabia. When she's home, she has a driver, but she supports a woman's right to drive for women in her country who aren't wealthy enough to afford a driver, she said.

The three women have been impressed with the UO campus and Eugene. They've been enjoying shopping, getting around on local buses and walking the area bike trails. "It's wonderful here," Bokhary said. "Very nice people, no taxes and a small community."

And they don't mind the mild weather, either. In Saudi Arabia temperatures can soar from 45 to 49 degrees Celsius, she said. That's 113 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. "It can get to 50 degrees," she said, "but don't tell them that."