National Diabetes Center

Bin Jelmood House: The Heartbreaking Story of Slavery

13 March 2022travelingpersecond

The second part of Msheireb Museum is Bin Jelmood House.

Who is Bin Jelmood?….He was a famous slave trader in Doha during the slavery era. He was often known as “The Rock”, referring to his convictions and stubbornness at the time.

This edition is more serious than Company House edition, friends….Be prepared to read more solemnly.

Come on, let’s got in!….It was hot outside, you know.

At the beginning of Bin Jelmood House exploration, I entered an audio-visual room which narrated the time of slave trading from Africa to Europe.

The shape of an ancient Doha house, the courtyard was in the middle.

It was told…Europe in the Middle Ages where slavery was supported by a social system called SERFDOM.

At that time, slaves wore special accessories in the form of bracelets called Manilla and it was a historical fact that one of four Athenians would become slaves and worked in the olive fields. In another part of the world, Syria, there were slavery contracts between the buyers and sellers of slaves.

“The Indian Ocean World” Sessiom.

Civilizations in Africa and Asia, especially India, Middle East, and Sriwijaya (Indonesia) developed through the Indian Ocean.

In the maritime history of Indian Ocean, goods and slaves were traded between countries in Africa and the Gulf region. Meanwhile, between India and East Asia, goods and slaves were traded via the Silk Road (this route had two routes, land and sea). One of the pictures in the museum showed the export of oxen (oxen) from Madagascar to Mauritius.

Events in the eastern hemisphere were also depicted in black and white photographs, namely the activities of Dutch East Indies on the spices export at Jakarta Port in 1682, while in India, trading ships carried opium from Calcutta to China.

“Slavery in The Indian Ocean World ” Session

Slavery was very prevalent in the pre-Islamic period, where slaves from Egypt, the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa were sold to Mecca and Baghdad which were the main slave markets in the Middle East. One of stories was about a famous slave named Antarah bin Shaddad Al-Absi who was born by an Ethiopian slave with father who be a Bani Abas leader. Then the story of Abdullah Ibn Abi Quhafa (Abu Bakr Ash-Shidiq) who became an important figure in the history of slave liberation, one of the famous slaves freed by him was Bilal bin Rabah Al-Habashi. Then Islam came down in Middle East and forbade slavery between human beings.

Some of the methods of slavery around Indian Ocean were through war, punishment for crimes, invasions, kidnapping, selling family members and debt bondage.

“Slaves’Status in The Indian Ocean World” Session

Among the upper classes, slavery indicated the master’s level of influence and wealth.

During the Abassid Empire (Abasiy), the Mamluk Army (Mamluk Army) was formed from slaves of Balkans, Caucasus and Europe. This army was very famous during the rule of Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt in the 12th century. There was also the Janissaries Troop formed by the Ottoman Empire in Turkey consisting of youth from Christian families who were trained in religious and military principles.

In the mid-19th century, clove plantations were highly developed in East Africa. This resulted in the enslavement of 1.6 million people there. In this section, the museum displayed a sword belonging to a Zanzibar slave at that time.

There was also a story about Tippu Ti (Hamed bin Muhammed Al-Murjebi), the owner of seven clove plantations and 10,000 slaves. This businessman from Swahili-Zanzibari Ivory captured and sold slaves on the orders of King Leopold of Belgium who was the authority on Congo.

Another heart-wrenching story was about the Persian King Bahram Gur who stepped on his favorite slave girl named Azada from a horse, simply because she did not value his hunting abilities. In ancient times slaves would only be guaranteed their life if they were integrated into their master’s family, this could be done if slaves were able to communicate in thir master’s language and were willing to embrace their master’s religion.

Five Rooms Describing Slavery in Qatar.

Illustration of slave activity at Bin Jelmood House in the past.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Qatar’s population was only 27,000 and the fact was that one in six of its citizens was a slave. The ownership of slaves was a guarantee for pearl exporting businessmen as well as importers, that their goods would be safe in the harsh desert voyages and treacherous sea voyages.

In 1868, Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani signed a protection treaty from British Government. Meanwhile in 1872, the Ottoman Empire established a military garrison in Doha until the end of World War I. After their departure in 1916, the British began to exert influence in Qatar through their base in Bahrain.

In the 18th century, Qatar had a positive impact on global economic developments. Mainly because of the increasing world demand for pearls. In order to increase the pearl catch, there was slavery of workers in the pearl catching industry in Qatar.

In the early 19th century, as many as 2,000-3,000 slaves were sent to Middle East, especially Oman, to be traded.

Meanwhile, at the end of the 19th century, slaves were employed in Qatar, taken from East Africa and the Red Sea, thousands more were imported from Zanzibar, slaves were brought by Dhow Boat across the Indian Ocean to Qatar. At the beginning of the 20th century, because of the opposition to slavery in East Africa, slaves began to be taken from Baluchistan.

The slave population in Qatar continued to be maintained by their masters by marrying their fellow slaves which of course would give birth to children as slaves as well.

The effects of the increased capture of slaves in Africa were disturbing to general community in the region. This was what causes endless wars in Africa.

At the time of slaves capturing, slaves would be chained and walked from Mozambique, Congo, Malawi and Zambia as far as 1,000 miles to Kilwa coast in Tanzania, sometimes before reaching the shore, they would be killed by the robbers, then slaves who survived then for weeks even months would sail for sale to Middle East and Yemen.

Illustration of slave abduction in Africa.

In Zanzibar’s slave market, female slaves would be dressed in fine clothes and jewelry so that they were sold at a high price. Buyers would usually check their physical health and beauty before buying them. Even slaves would be given new names such as Faida (profit), Baraka (blessing) and Mubaroka (blessed). To illustrate nominally, in 1926, a 24-year-old male slave diver in Qatar could be purchased for 1,210 Rupees.

Slaves in Doha and Al Wakra, some of whom lived together with their masters, ate the same food and wore the same clothes. Some of them separately live next to the house provided by the employer.

In daily life, slave girls would work to prepare food and took care of the children. While male slaves after the pearl shell hunting season was over, would work looking for firewood, breaking stones, transporting water, and being security guards for city officials.

Then there was social acculturation, slaves who initially were the majority of non-Muslims accepted the presence of Islam in their lives, then they embraced it. Likewise, the children of slaves will automatically become Muslims because of the religion of their parents.

Illustration of a slave with their daily work.

But their origin culture remain attached and could not be abandoned. Slaves from West Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco often performed the Zar Ritual when their master was asleep at night. This Zar ritual was considered to be able to give spirit and enthusiasm to get physical and mental health.

Over time, it turned out that the demand for slaves increased throughout Qatar when the pearl industry became booming and was needed by the world.

In practice, slave pearl divers would work from dawn to sunset. A small basket would be draped around their neck to store about 8-10 oysters they picked up from seabed. They would dive with an average time of 90 minutes and could dive up to 50 times per day.

Year after year, Qatar’s economic uncertainty caused its population to decrease from 27,000 to 16,000 and only 4,000 of them were still interested in working in pearl industry. Slaves began to be sent to oil fields to work and their wages would be shared with their masters.

“The Richness of Diversity” Session

The migration of slaves over hundreds years in Qatar contributed to the formation of Qatari culture in terms of cuisine, music and language. Qatar people then know Indian Biryani, Levantine Mansaf, Spanish Paella, and Balaleet. Other cultures which developed include playing Mancala and decorating the body with Qatari Henna.

Qatar had long been the meeting point of people migration who carried their respective cultures because it was located at the crossroads of Indian Ocean trade routes. In fact, many people who initially only stopped by ended up settling in Qatar.

“Knowing Our Ancestors” Session

From fossil and archaeological studies, it was known that the ancestors of Qatari people came from Africa.

Included in this session were the subject of DNA and its inheritance, the anatomy taught by Avicenna, the human genome and the reading of DNA sequences that could help humans to treat certain diseases based on this information.

That genes also affected blood type, hair and eye color. In some studies it was said that genes would make humans become super tasters (tasting something bitter than normal people) and non-tasters (not sensitive to taste).

Back to slavery…

In the late 19th century, Britain began to initiate the reduction of slavery in Middle East. They often rescued slave ships and brought them to British territory. This was because, since the end of the 18th century, the people of Western Europe through their parliaments cast the opinion on the abolition of slavery.

The early days of the struggle to abolish slavery.

There was the right moment when British signed the Qatar protection agreement on November 3, 1916. This was used by British to ask Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jassim Al-Thani to stop the practice of slavery in Qatar as a condition. But Qataris objected to this abolition.

The success of slavery abolition was only effective when Qatar succeeded in exporting its oil abroad. With the profits from oil trading, Qatari government was able to pay compensation money to slave owners to free their respective slaves. And finally, in April 1952, the practice of slavery was officially banned in all of Qatar.

After the ban, many slaves were granted Qatari citizenship by the Emir and many of them were accepted to work with full salaries in Qatar’s oil companies.

“Qatar, a Pioneer in Personalized Healthcare” Session

Qatar was a country which was committed to genetic research and was a pioneer in personalized medicine, which was a management of patient care in the medicine world based on patient genotype information, so that an evaluation could be carried out to determine an appropriate treatment for disease type which patient were suffering from.

Qatar was making progress by establishing Qatar Biobank, a place to store health information and biological samples from its citizens. This biobank was very helpful in the Qatar Genome Program launched by the government. This program was funded by Qatar Foundation through Qatar National Research Fund and was also funded by the Ministry of Health.

Qatar was also home to research centers such as Qatar Biomedical Research Institute at Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar University Biomedical Research Center and Weill Cornell Medicine.

Qatar also had a National Diabetes Center, a National Premarital Screening and Counseling Program, and a Qatar Newborn Screening Program.

“Modern Slavery” Session

You need to know that around 27 million people have become victims of modern slavery around the world. This type of slavery was caused by rampant human trafficking.

Some surprising facts include:

2.5 million people were in forced labour, including sexual exploitation.
Human trafficking was the most profitable international crime, along with drugs and arms trafficking.
Profits from human trafficking per year reached 31.6 billion US Dollars.
The majority of human trafficking victims were 18-24 years old.
1.2 million children were trafficked every year.
From 190 countries in the world, 161 countries have a role in this human trafficking. Either as a source, destination or as a transit country.

Political and humanitarian crises often place vulnerable groups (women and children) from less developed areas in human trafficking risk.

Many children in the 1990s were employed in factories, fishing boats, mining, agricultural land and underage women were employed in sexual industry. They work more than normal hours, sometimes without pay, living only with minimal food and minimal housing.

“Organizations” Session

Qatar struggles to abolish slavery in the modern era.

Then many organizations have sprung up in the world which were moving to end human trafficking, they hold meetings with governments in countries which still have modern slavery practices, they meet labor agencies around the world to work together to fight the practice of modern slavery.

Qatari House for Lodging and Human Care was one of many organizations which protected human trafficking victims. This organization provided health services, psychiatric consultation, legal assistance, rehabilitation, as well as cooking and sewing courses.

Qatar was the first and largest financier in UN Global Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. Qatar as also funding The Arab Initiative for Capacity Building in Combating Human Trafficking which was a collaboration between UNODC and the Arab League.

Finally…. I couldn’t believe I was at the end of this session at Bin Jelmood House. I took the time to entering the toilet, took pictures of the lobby and courtyard, then thanked all the staff at reception desk when I was about to leave the museum.

Hmmm….. What a great museum.

Bin Jelmood House: Kisah Perbudakan yang Menyayat Hati

24 September 202013 January 2023travelingpersecond

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Bagian kedua dari Msheireb Museum adalah Bin Jelmood House.

Siapakah sosok Bin Jelmood?….Dia adalah pedagang budak terkenal di Doha pada masa perbudakan masih berlangsung. Dia sering dikenal dengan sebutan “The Rock”, merujuk pada pendirian dan kekerasan hatinya kala itu.

Eh, edisi ini lebih serius dari edisi Company House, ya temans….Bersiaplah membaca lebih khusyu’.

Yuk, kita mulai masuk!….Panas di luar, tauk.

Di awal penjelajahan Bin Jelmood House, aku memasuki sebuah ruang audio visual yang menceritakan masa perdagangan budak dari Afrika ke Eropa.

Bentuk rumah Doha zaman dahulu, halaman berada di tengahnya.

Dikisahkan…Eropa di Abad Pertengahan dimana perbudakan didukung oleh sistem sosial yang disebut dengan SERFDOM.

Kala itu, para budak dipakaikan aksesoris khusus berupa gelang bernama Manilla dan fakta yang telah menjadi sejarah bahwa satu diantara empat warga Athena akan menjadi budak dan dipekerjakan di ladang zaitun. Di belahan dunia lain, Syria, terdapat kontrak perbudakan antara pembeli dan penjual budak.

Sesi “The Indian Ocean World”.

Peradaban di Afrika dan Asia khususnya India, Timur Tengah, dan Sriwijaya (Indonesia) berkembang melalui Samudera Hindia.

Dalam sejarah maritim Samudera Hindia, barang dan budak diperdagangkan antara negara-negara di Afrika dan wilayah Teluk. Sementara antara India dan Asia Timur, barang dan budak diperjualbelikan melalui Jalur Sutra (jalur ini memiliki dua rute, darat dan laut). Salah satu gambar di museum memperlihatkan ekspor oxen (lembu) dari Madagaskar ke Mauritius.

Kejadian di belahan timur dunia juga digambarkan dalam foto hitam putih, yaitu tentang kegiatan Hindia Belanda pada ekspor rempah-rempah di Pelabuhan Jakarta pada tahun 1682, sementara di India, kapal-kapal dagang membawa opium dari Calcutta menuju Tiongkok

Sesi “Slavery in The Indian Ocean World ”

Kisah para budak yang melegenda ada di sini.

Perbudakan sangat marak dilakukan pada masa sebelum Islam, dimana budak dari Mesir, Mediterania Timur dan Afrika dijual ke Mekah dan Baghdad yang merupakan pasar utama budak di Timur Tengah. Salah satu kisahnya adalah tentang budak terkenal bernama Antarah bin Shaddad Al-Absi yang dilahirkan oleh budak Ethiopia dengan bapak seorang pemimpin Bani Abas. Kemudian kisah Abdullah Ibn Abi Quhafa (Abu Bakar Ash-Shidiq) yang menjadi figur penting dalam sejarah pembebasan budak, salah satu budak terkenal yang dibebaskan olehnya adalah Bilal bin Rabah Al-Habashi. Lalu Islam turun di Timur Tengah dan melarang adanya perbudakan antar sesama manusia.

Beberapa metode perbudakan di sekitar Samudera Hindia adalah melalui perang, hukuman atas kejahatan, invasi, penculikan, penjualan anggota keluarga dan jeratan hutang.

Sesi “Slaves’Status in The Indian Ocean World”

Di kalangan kelas atas, perbudakan menunjukkan level pengaruh dan kesejahteraan sang tuan.

Di masa Kekaisaran Abassid (Abasiyah), dibentuklah Pasukan Mamluk (Mamluk Army) yang dibentuk dari kalangan budak Balkan, Kaukasus dan Eropa. Pasukan ini sangat terkenal semasa kekuasaan Dinasti Ayyubid di Mesir pada Abad ke-12. Terdapat juga Pasukan Janissaries yang dibentuk oleh Kekaisaran Utsmaniyah di Turki yang beranggotakan pemuda dari keluarga kristiani yang dilatih dengan kaidah agama dan militer.

Pada pertengahan Abad ke-19, perkebunan cengkeh sangat berkembang di Afrika Timur. Hal ini berdampak dengan diperbudaknya 1,6 juta orang disana. Di bagian ini, museum menampilkan sebuah pedang milik budak Zanzibar pada masa itu.

Dikisahkan juga seorang Tippu Ti (Hamed bin Muhammed Al-Murjebi), pemilik tujuh perkebunan cengkeh dan 10.000 budak. Pengusaha dari Swahili-Zanzibari Ivory ini menangkap dan menjual budak atas perintah Raja Leopold dari Belgia yang merupakan pemegang otoritas di Kongo.

Cerita menyayat hati lainnya adalah tentang Raja Persia, Bahram Gur yang menginjak budak perempuan kesayangannya yang bernama Azada dari atas kuda, hanya karena dia tidak menghargai kemampuan berburunya. Pada zaman dahulu budak hanya akan terjamin hidupnya jika dia dintegrasikan menjadi bagian dari keluarga sang majikan, hal ini bisa dilakukan jika si budak mampu berkomunikasi dengan bahasa tuannya serta mau memeluk agama tuannya.

Lima Ruangan yang Mendeskripsikan Perbudakan di Qatar.

Ilustrasi aktivitas budak di Bin Jelmood House tempo dulu.

Di awal Abad ke-20, penduduk Qatar hanya berjumlah 27.000 jiwa dan faktanya adalah satu dari enam warganya adalah seorang budak. Kepemilikan budak merupakan jaminan bagi para pebisnis ekspor mutiara dan juga para importir, supaya barang mereka tetap aman dalam perjalan gurun yang keras dan pelayaran laut yang berbahaya.

Pada tahun 1868, Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani menandatangani perjanjian perlindungan dari Pemerintah Inggris. Sementara pada tahun 1872, Kekaisaran Utsmaniyah membentuk garnisun militer di Doha hingga akhir Perang Dunia I. Setelah kepergian mereka pada tahun 1916, Inggris mulai menanamkan pengaruh di Qatar melalui pangkalan mereka di Bahrain.

Pada Abad ke-18, Qatar terdampak positif dalam perkembangan ekonomi global. Terutama karena meningkatnya permintaan dunia akan mutiara. Untuk meningkatkan hasil tangkap mutiara inilah terjadilah perbudakan pekerja pada industri tangkap mutiara di Qatar.

Di awal Abad ke-19, sebanyak 2.000-3.000 budak dikirim ke Timur Tengah khususnya Oman untuk diperdagangkan.

Sedangkan pada akhir Abad ke-19, budak yang dipekerjakan di Qatar, diambil dari Afrika Timur dan Laut Merah, ribuan lagi didatangkan dari Zanzibar, para budak itu dibawa dengan Dhow Boat menyeberangi Samudera Hindia menuju Qatar. Pada awal Abad ke-20, karena terjadi penentangan perbudakan di Afrika Timur maka budak mulai diambil dari Baluchistan.

Populasi budak di Qatar terus dijaga para tuannya dengan cara menikahkan sesama budak yang tentu akan melahirkan anak sebagai budak juga.

Efek dari peningkatan penangkapan budak di Afrika ternyata mengganggu komunitas umum di wilayah tersebut. Hal inilah yang menyebabkan peperangan tiada henti di Afrika.

Pada masa penangkapan budak, budak akan dirantai dan berjalan dari Mozambik, Kongo, Malawi dan Zambia sejauh 1.000 mil menuju pantai Kilwa di Tanzania, terkadang sebelum sampai di pantai, mereka akan terbunuh oleh para perampok, kemudian budak yang selamat maka selama berminggu-minggu bahkan berbulan-bulan akan berlayar untuk dijual ke Timur Tengah dan Yaman.

Di pasar budak Zanzibar, budak wanita akan dikenakan pakaian bagus dan perhiasan supaya harga jualnya mahal. Pembeli biasanya akan mengecek kesehatan fisik dan kecantikan sebelum membelinya. Bahkan budak akan diberikan nama baru seperti Faida (keuntungan), Baraka (berkat) dan Mubaroka (diberkati). Sebagai gambaran secara nominal, pada tahun 1926, seorang budak penyelam laki-laki berusia 24 tahun di Qatar bisa dibeli dengan harga 1.210 Rupee.

Budak di Doha dan Al Wakra, beberapa diantaranya hidup serumah bersama tuannya, memakan makanan yang sama dan memakai pakaian yang sama. Sebagian dari mereka tinggal terpisah di sebelah rumah yang disediakan sang majikan.

Dalam keseharian, budak perempuan akan bekerja menyiapkan makanan dan mengasuh anak-anak. Sedangkan para budak laki-laki setelah musim berburu kerang mutiara usai, akan bekerja mencari kayu bakar, memecah batu, mengangkut air, dan menjadi penjaga keamanan para pejabat kota.

Kemudian terjadilah akulturasi sosial, budak yang awalnya adalah mayoritas non-muslim menerima kehadiran Islam dalam kehidupannya, lalu mereka memeluknya. Begitu pula anak-anak budak secara otomatis akan menjadi muslim karena agama orang tuanya.

Ilustrasi budak dengan pekerjaan sehari-harinya.

Tetapi budaya asal mereka tetap melekat dan tak bisa ditinggalkan begitu saja. Para budak asal Afrika Barat, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Mesir, Tunisia dan Maroko sering mengadakan Ritual Zar pada saat tuannya sudah tertidur di malam hari. Ritual Zar ini dianggap bisa memberikan ruh dan semangat untuk mendapatkan kesehatan fisik dan mental.

Seiring berjalannya waktu, ternyata permintaan budak meningkat di seantero Qatar ketika industri mutiara menjadi booming dan dibutuhkan oleh dunia.

Pada prakteknya, budak penyelam mutiara akan bekerja dari fajar hingga tenggelamnya matahari. Keranjang kecil akan dikalungkan di leher untuk menyimpan 8-10 oyster yang diambilnya dari dasar laut. Mereka akan menyelam dengan rataan waktu 90 menit dan bisa melakukan penyelaman hingga 50 kali per hari.

Tahun berganti tahun, ketidakjelasan ekonomi Qatar menyebabkan pengurangan jumlah penduduk dari 27.000 jiwa menjadi 16.000 jiwa dan hanya 4.000 jiwa diantaranya yang masih tertarik bekerja di industri mutiara. Para budak mulai dikirim ke ladang minyak untuk bekerja dan upahnya akan dibagi bersama tuannya.

Sesi “The Richness of Diversity”

Perpindahan budak selama ratusan tahun di Qatar berkontribusi atas terbentuknya budaya Qatar dalam hal kuliner, musik dan bahasa. Masyarakat Qatar kemudian mengenal Indian Biryani, Levantine Mansaf, Spanish Paella, dan Balaleet. Budaya lain yang berkembang diantaranya adalah bermain Mancala dan menghias tubuh dengan Qatari Henna.

Qatar telah lama menjadi titik pertemuan dari perpindahan manusia yang membawa budayanya masing-masing karena terletak di persimpangan jalur perdagangan Samudera Hindia. Bahkan banyak orang yang awalnya hanya singgah akhirnya menetap di Qatar.

Sesi “Knowing Our Ancestors”

Dari studi fosil dan arkeologi, diketahui bahwa nenek moyang bangsa Qatar berasal Afrika.

Diselipkan di sesi ini adalah perihal DNA dan pewarisannya, anatomi yang diajarkan oleh Avicenna, genom manusia dan pembacaan susunan DNA yang bisa membantu manusia untuk mengobati sejumlah penyakit tertentu berdasarkan informasi tersebut.

Bahwa gen juga mempengaruhi tipe darah, rambut dan warna mata. Di beberapa studi mengatakan bahwa gen akan menjadikan manusia menjadikan super taster (mengecap sesuatu lebih pahit dari orang normal) dan non-taster (tidak peka rasa).

Kembali ke masalah perbudakan…..

Di akhir Abad ke-19, Inggris mulai memprakarsai pengurangan angka perbudakan di Timur Tengah. Mereka sering meyelamatkan kapal budak dan dibawa ke wilayah teritori Inggris.`Hal ini dikarenakan, sejak akhir Abad ke-18, masyarakat Eropa Barat melalui parlemennya melemparkan opini penghapusan perbudakan.

Masa-masa awal perjuangan menghapus perbudakan.

Ada momen yang tepat ketika terjadi penandatangan kesepakatan perlindungan Qatar oleh Inggris pada 3 November 1916. Hal ini dimanfaatkan Inggris untuk meminta Sheikh Abdullah Bin Jassim Al-Thani untuk menghentikan praktek perbudakan di Qatar sebagai syarat. Tetapi warga Qatar menolak penghapusan ini.

Keberhasilan penghapusan perbudakan baru efektif diterima saat Qatar berhasil mengekspor minyaknya ke luar negeri. Dengan keuntungan penjualan minyak, pemerintah Qatar bisa membayar uang kompensasi kepada para pemilik budak untuk membebaskan budaknya masing-masing. Dan akhirnya, pada April 1952, praktek perbudakan secara resmi dilarang di seluruh Qatar.

Setelah pelarangan itu, banyak budak yang diberi kewarganegaraan Qatar oleh Sang Emir dan banyak diantara mereka diterima bekerja dengan gaji penuh di perusahaan minyak Qatar.

Sesi “Qatar, a Pioneer in Personalized Healthcare”

Qatar adalah negara yang berkomitmen terhadap penelitian genetik dan menjadi negara pioneer dalam personalized medicine, yaitu suatu manajemen penanganan pasien di dunia kedokteran berdasarkan informasi genotype pasien, sehingga bisa dilakukan evaluasi untuk mengetahui penanganan yang cocok untuk jenis penyakit yang diidap.

Qatar membuat kemajuan dengan mendirikan Qatar Biobank yaitu tempat menyimpan informasi kesehatan dan sampel biologis dari warga negaranya. Biobank ini sangat membantu dalam Qatar Genome Programme yang diluncurkan oleh pemerintah. Program ini didanai oleh Qatar Foudation melalui Qatar National Research Fund dan juga didanai oleh Menteri Kesehatan.

Qatar juga menjadi tempat didirikannya pusat-pusat penelitian seperti Qatar Biomedical Research Institute di Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar University Biomedical Researc Center dan Weill Cornell Medicine.

Qatar juga memiliki National Diabetes Center, National Premarital Screening and Counselling Programme, serta Qatar Newborn Screening Programme.

Sesi “Modern Slavery”

Perlu kamu ketahui bahwa sekitar 27 juta manusia telah menjadi korban perbudakan modern di seluruh dunia. Perbudakan jenis ini diakibatkan oleh maraknya human trafficking.

Beberapa fakta mengejutkan diantaranya adalah:

2,5 juta orang adalah tenaga kerja paksa, termasuk eksploitasi sexual.
Human trafficking adalah kejahatan internasional paling banyak memberi keuntungan uang, bersama narkoba dan arms trafficking (perdagangan senjata).
Keuntungan dari human trafficking per tahun mencapai 31,6 milyar Dolar Amerika.
Mayoritas korban human trafficking berusia 18-24 tahun.
1,2 juta anak-anak diperdagangkan tiap tahun.
Dari 190 negara di dunia, 161 negara memiliki peran dalam perdagangan manusia ini. Baik sebagai sumber, tujuan atau sebagai negara transit.

Krisis politik dan kemanusiaan sering menempatkan golongan rentan (wanita dan anak-anak) dari wilayah-wilayah kurang berkembang pada resiko human trafficking (perdagangan manusia).

Banyak anak-anak pada era 1990-an dipekerjakan di pabrik-pabrik, kapal-kapal ikan, pertambangan, lahan pertanian dan wanita-wanita di bawah umur dipekerjakan di industri sexual. Mereka bekerja melebihi waktu normal, terkadang tanpa upah, hanya hidup dengan makanan seadanya dan tempat tinggal seadanya.

Sesi “Organizations”

Perjuangan Qatar menghapus perbudakan di era modern.

Kemudian banyak bermunculan organisasi di dunia yang bergerak untuk mengakhiri human trafficking, mereka melakukan pertemuan dengan pemerintah di negara-negara yang masih terdapat praktik perbudakan modern, mereka bertemu para agensi tenaga kerja di seluruh dunia untuk bersama-sama melawan praktek perbudakan modern.

Qatari House for Lodging and Human Care adalah salah satu dari sekian banyak organisasi yang melindungi para korban human trafficking. Organisasi ini memberikan pelayanan kesehatan, konsultasi psikiater, bantuan hukum, rehabilitasi, serta kursus memasak dan menjahit.

Qatar adalah pendana pertama dan terbesar untuk UN Global Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. Qatar juga mendanai The Arab Initiative for Capacity Building in Combating Human Trafficking yang merupakan kolaborasi antara UNODC dan Arab League.

Akhirnya….

Tak terasa aku sudah berada di akhir sesi di Bin Jelmood House ini. Aku menyempatkan diri memasuki toilet, mengambil gambar selasar dan halaman, kemudian mengucapkan terimakasih kepada segenap staff di reception desk ketika hendak meninggalkan museum.

Hmmhh…..Museum yang hebat.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->