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Arabian Heritage Series
The Oasis: Al Ain Memoirs of "Doctora Latifa"
Al Ain Springs A Personal Memoir (Arabian Heritage Classic Editions)
95 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
29 people want to read
About the author
Gertrude Dyck
1 book Gertrude Dyck: nurse/midwife and missionary; born 2 April 1934 in Dunelm, Saskatchewan, Canada to Heinrich "Henry" Dyck (5 May 1908 - 25 April 1993) and Olga (Penner) Dyck (19 February 1909 - 12 November 1948). She was the fourth child in a family of five children; sister to Ernest, Anne, Henry and Helena. Gertrude died 17 October 2009 in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.
Gertrude grew up on a rural farm in the Swift Current area of Saskatchewan. Her parents were from a Mennonite background. Gertrude became a committed Christian at the age of twelve. She received her first nine grades in a one-room, one-teacher school, and attended high school in Swift Current and Prairie High School in Three Hills, Alberta. Gertrude attended Prairie Bible Institute in 1957 followed by nurses training at Calgary General Hospital in preparation for missionary service.
In 1962, at 28 years of age, Gertrude went to Trucial Oman (it became the United Arab Emirates in 1971) with The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM). She was one of the first foreigners to work as a nurse in the oasis of Al Ain. She was nicknamed by the local Arabs as "Doctora Latifa," meaning "mercy." Gertrude acted as a midwife to many of the 90,000 babies born at the Oasis Hospital in Al Ain after it opened in 1960. The United Arab Emiraties (UAE) newspapers referred to her as the "beloved 'mother' of thousands."
Gertrude had a long standing association with HH Sheikh Zayed II bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, and delivered almost a hundred children in his extended family as well as children of Bedouins and ordinary citizens. She was also involved in visiting local Emirati and royal homes and took many opportunities to share her faith and love with the people there. They became very dear to her heart.
Dyck retired from active nursing in 1988 but continued to work at Oasis Hospital as part of its cultural orientation team until 2000, and was later invited to work for InterHealth Canada for one and a half years as Cultural Advisor in Abu Dhabi.
One of Gertrude’s biggest contributions to Oasis Hospital is the photographs she took. The pictures she took of her life, her friends, and Oasis Hospital's growth and development serve as an historical archive of the rapid changes the UAE has seen in the last 40 years.
Gertrude retired from active ministry in 2005 and relocated to Abbotsford, BC. It was a difficult transition after living 38 years in the Middle East. She lived at Hallmark Assisted Living before moving to Menno Terrace East. She watched the Clearbrook Mennonite Brethren Church Sunday services regularly and felt this was her church until her passing.
Gertrude’s memoirs were published by Motivate Publishing, a major UAE publishing house in 1995. In 2002, Gertrude was recognized with two of Canada’s highest honors: the Order of Canada, and a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for her work in the UAE. Gertrude was also posthumously honored in the UAE with the Medal of Independence of the Third Order.
Andres, Anne. "Dyck, Gertrude (1934-2009)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2011. Web. 03 January 2013. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/con...
Gertrude grew up on a rural farm in the Swift Current area of Saskatchewan. Her parents were from a Mennonite background. Gertrude became a committed Christian at the age of twelve. She received her first nine grades in a one-room, one-teacher school, and attended high school in Swift Current and Prairie High School in Three Hills, Alberta. Gertrude attended Prairie Bible Institute in 1957 followed by nurses training at Calgary General Hospital in preparation for missionary service.
In 1962, at 28 years of age, Gertrude went to Trucial Oman (it became the United Arab Emirates in 1971) with The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM). She was one of the first foreigners to work as a nurse in the oasis of Al Ain. She was nicknamed by the local Arabs as "Doctora Latifa," meaning "mercy." Gertrude acted as a midwife to many of the 90,000 babies born at the Oasis Hospital in Al Ain after it opened in 1960. The United Arab Emiraties (UAE) newspapers referred to her as the "beloved 'mother' of thousands."
Gertrude had a long standing association with HH Sheikh Zayed II bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, and delivered almost a hundred children in his extended family as well as children of Bedouins and ordinary citizens. She was also involved in visiting local Emirati and royal homes and took many opportunities to share her faith and love with the people there. They became very dear to her heart.
Dyck retired from active nursing in 1988 but continued to work at Oasis Hospital as part of its cultural orientation team until 2000, and was later invited to work for InterHealth Canada for one and a half years as Cultural Advisor in Abu Dhabi.
One of Gertrude’s biggest contributions to Oasis Hospital is the photographs she took. The pictures she took of her life, her friends, and Oasis Hospital's growth and development serve as an historical archive of the rapid changes the UAE has seen in the last 40 years.
Gertrude retired from active ministry in 2005 and relocated to Abbotsford, BC. It was a difficult transition after living 38 years in the Middle East. She lived at Hallmark Assisted Living before moving to Menno Terrace East. She watched the Clearbrook Mennonite Brethren Church Sunday services regularly and felt this was her church until her passing.
Gertrude’s memoirs were published by Motivate Publishing, a major UAE publishing house in 1995. In 2002, Gertrude was recognized with two of Canada’s highest honors: the Order of Canada, and a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for her work in the UAE. Gertrude was also posthumously honored in the UAE with the Medal of Independence of the Third Order.
Andres, Anne. "Dyck, Gertrude (1934-2009)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2011. Web. 03 January 2013. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/con...
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 26, 2015
Excellent historical read. Especially for anyone living in the United Arab Emirates and interested in the rapid transformation
February 28, 2026
As someone who has lived in the UAE for 10 years, I was honored to receive the 50th Anniversary edition of the memoir of Gertrude Dyck, also known as “Doctora Latifa”, from the workers at the Oasis (Kanad) Hospital, the hospital where Gertrude Dyck worked and which is a birthplace of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the United Arab Emirates.
The doctors and nurses were the pioneering foreigners who generously offered their support and dedication to the young nation of the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to the tireless work of Dr. Pat & Marian Kennedy, a Christian missionary couple from the USA, who were the first healthcare professionals to come to Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates and the country’s leadership have a deep respect for the Christian faith.
In honor of their service, the Oasis Hospital, now known as Kanad Hospital, whose specialty is maternity and pediatrics, has “Faith – Hope – Peace – Love” as its motto. The hospital lobby has Arabic Bibles on desks in the waiting area, and a large inscription of Matthew 11:28 is visible to everyone on the foyer wall. The wall near the elevators holds a big plaque with Luke 6:27-28.
Gertrude Dyck, a Canadian nurse who came to the UAE in the 1960s and dedicated 38 years to providing healthcare to the Emiratis, became a hero in the United Arab Emirates. In the 1960s, the desert Bedouin tribes, whose destiny was to build one of the exemplary nations of the modern day, through interaction with doctors and nurses, laid the foundation for coexistence between Western culture and the Arab world.
The memoir is very easy to read; it is a collection of notable life episodes from the work of the Oasis Hospital staff in the early years of the UAE, beginning before the country's official formation under its current title in 1971. The descriptions are warm and reflect the values of service, care, compassion, and respect for life that led to collaboration and mutual respect.
Here is a description of the relations between the local people and the hospital workers:
“Local people welcomed the hospital and its staff; invitations to visit them in nearby and far-off villages followed. We would always be received with open arms, met at the car and accompanied on foot to their homes, be they in a date garden or beside the next dune. Their friendship was overwhelming. If they had given birth at the hospital, they would say: “You must come and see ‘your baby’,” as one is often honoured as the ‘mother’ when one cuts the cord of that baby at birth.”
And here is an observation about the Bedouin women’s hairstyles:
“In the 1960s, the women’s hair was braided in small tight braids all around her head, and then those braids were braided together to make one large braid at the base of the skull. How it was braided together depended on what tribe she was from. But most women would weave nice smelling petals, like rose petals, yas etc. into the braids, as well as oil of ambar and oud, in order to exude a delightful smell. To top it all off, when the incense burner was offered it would be held under the braids to enhance the effect of the oily perfumes, as it does also in the clothes.”
Reading the memoir feels like watching a documentary about the not-so-distant dawn of the Emirates’ successful and incredible ascent to the heights of global politics and the economy, a country that takes pride in being a peacemaker and a center of true mutual respect and tolerance among cultures and creeds. The stories of small life events, like travels with or to patients, the patients’ habits and living conditions in the hospital, interactions between the locals and the expatriate nursing staff, descriptions of weddings and other celebrations, camel and Land Rover rides in the dunes, and welcoming Emirati traditions, make reading the memoir an incredibly fulfilling experience.
The doctors and nurses were the pioneering foreigners who generously offered their support and dedication to the young nation of the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to the tireless work of Dr. Pat & Marian Kennedy, a Christian missionary couple from the USA, who were the first healthcare professionals to come to Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates and the country’s leadership have a deep respect for the Christian faith.
In honor of their service, the Oasis Hospital, now known as Kanad Hospital, whose specialty is maternity and pediatrics, has “Faith – Hope – Peace – Love” as its motto. The hospital lobby has Arabic Bibles on desks in the waiting area, and a large inscription of Matthew 11:28 is visible to everyone on the foyer wall. The wall near the elevators holds a big plaque with Luke 6:27-28.
Gertrude Dyck, a Canadian nurse who came to the UAE in the 1960s and dedicated 38 years to providing healthcare to the Emiratis, became a hero in the United Arab Emirates. In the 1960s, the desert Bedouin tribes, whose destiny was to build one of the exemplary nations of the modern day, through interaction with doctors and nurses, laid the foundation for coexistence between Western culture and the Arab world.
The memoir is very easy to read; it is a collection of notable life episodes from the work of the Oasis Hospital staff in the early years of the UAE, beginning before the country's official formation under its current title in 1971. The descriptions are warm and reflect the values of service, care, compassion, and respect for life that led to collaboration and mutual respect.
Here is a description of the relations between the local people and the hospital workers:
“Local people welcomed the hospital and its staff; invitations to visit them in nearby and far-off villages followed. We would always be received with open arms, met at the car and accompanied on foot to their homes, be they in a date garden or beside the next dune. Their friendship was overwhelming. If they had given birth at the hospital, they would say: “You must come and see ‘your baby’,” as one is often honoured as the ‘mother’ when one cuts the cord of that baby at birth.”
And here is an observation about the Bedouin women’s hairstyles:
“In the 1960s, the women’s hair was braided in small tight braids all around her head, and then those braids were braided together to make one large braid at the base of the skull. How it was braided together depended on what tribe she was from. But most women would weave nice smelling petals, like rose petals, yas etc. into the braids, as well as oil of ambar and oud, in order to exude a delightful smell. To top it all off, when the incense burner was offered it would be held under the braids to enhance the effect of the oily perfumes, as it does also in the clothes.”
Reading the memoir feels like watching a documentary about the not-so-distant dawn of the Emirates’ successful and incredible ascent to the heights of global politics and the economy, a country that takes pride in being a peacemaker and a center of true mutual respect and tolerance among cultures and creeds. The stories of small life events, like travels with or to patients, the patients’ habits and living conditions in the hospital, interactions between the locals and the expatriate nursing staff, descriptions of weddings and other celebrations, camel and Land Rover rides in the dunes, and welcoming Emirati traditions, make reading the memoir an incredibly fulfilling experience.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews