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By Robert LaFrance

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Registered Nurse Lois Thornton, who also holds a Master of Adult Education degree, is off to the Middle East on Sunday, Aug. 10, for a two-year stay as an instructor at the University of Calgary Qatar (pronounced Cotter) campus in the country’s capital of Doha. She said the country, although in the Middle East which is not known for its stability, was considered safe, especially its capital Doha where she will be living and teaching.

“The population over there is expanding like crazy (with immigration),” she said, “between 1994 and 2004 the population doubled. Oil and gas. In 2005 they discovered a big gas resource and the U.S. is helping to develop that and shipping it back to the states.

Actually only about a quarter of the population is from Qatar. There are a lot from south Asia working in the oil and gas industry, a lot of British people; it was a British protectorate until 1971 when it declared independence. Borders on Saudi Arabia with UAE close and Bahrain close too. It is a peninsula jutting out into the Persian Gulf. Across the gulf from Iran. The country is very much like Dubai, a recreational mecca and wealthy.”

Her job in Qatar will be instructing nursing students.

“I’m working for the University of Calgary which has put together a Nursing Education Project with the Qatar government to provide baccalaureate level nursing education in the country.

The U of C’s branch campus is just a nursing school. They opened in the fall of 2007 and admitted 30 nursing students in their undergraduate program. Then in January admitted another 30 registered nurses who are working on their degrees.

“I don’t know for sure what I’m going to be teaching,” she went on. “I have a 2-year appointment. They said they planned on hiring 12 faculty this year from Canada.”

She has to pay Canadian taxes on her salary but no Qatar taxes since the country doesn’t have any.

“Their education and health care are all free, so anyone who wants to go to university can go. I’m being paid through the University of Calgary so it’s all Canadian funds. I’m paying New Brunswick rates.”

She said that during her two years she will have lots of vacation time, 54 paid vacation days a year and will be home in the summer, her flights at the expense of the school. She will have two weeks off in October and from the middle of December to the middle of January off. Asked if her husband David will be able to survive on his own cooking while she is away, Lois Thornton said: “Dave’s a good cook; he can look after himself.” He will be going over with her on August 10.

Will she have problems as a woman in a Muslim country? “Even as a woman I will fairly free to do most things,” Thornton said. “Qatar is a fairly open society, so we don’t have to keep our heads covered. They’ve told us to be respectful of the culture and to cover our arms to the elbow and cover our legs to the knee, but we can wear pants, capris, and skirts to the knee and below.

I know that they have women in their government and women can vote; it’s quite open as far as women’s activities and participation in society go. There is a lot of equestrian stuff, a lot of water sports, there are even a couple of indoor ice skating rinks in the malls and an ice hockey league in Doha.”

She said she wasn’t going to take her skates but was going to rent some.

“I expect to like it,” she said. “I’m going to do a job and I’m going to learn as much as I can and experience as much as I can. I’m sure there will be things I won’t like, but I’m really looking forward to it; it’s going to be a great experience.”

A very good trumpet player as well as singer, Lois Thornton said when asked if she were going to take her trumpet:

“I’m not sure. I’d like to take it, but I’m not sure where I’m going to be living. If I have a house I’ll get Dave to bring it over when he comes in October; if I’m in an apartment I probably won’t be able to play it.”