SLATED FOR DEMOLITION

Many slum areas of Jeddah have already been demolished and many more are scheduled to be torn down in the near future. The buildings are unsightly, in disrepair, and house mostly lower paid foreign workers. 

Despite the mess, I still manage to find beauty in these buildings

 

Jeddah - Working in the Heat

A fresh watermelon street vendor finds a little respite from the hot sun by finding a bit of shade while waiting for customers.  A cement worker stands out in the heat in a place with no shade.  I don't know how they do it. By the time I take the elevator down from our apartment and walk to our nearby car, I am already dripping with sweat.  

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Strolling Along in Jeddah

This is a fairly common sight here in Jeddah - an African woman pushing a baby stroller filled with products that they sell on the street or others that are transporting useful items they have picked out of garbage bins.  

SkyWatch - Jeddah Foreign Workers

Many foreign workers from African countries are day laborers here in Jeddah.  Depending on their specialities, like masonry, woodworking, construction, electricians, plumbers, etc., they wait in certain areas of the city to pick up jobs. 

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Pretty Compound Pool Area in Jeddah

There are many compounds in Jeddah where expats workers are housed. Many of them have a resort feel to them. This is a pool area inside one of Jeddah's compounds.  

SkyWatch: Jeddah Compound Pool Area

This is the pool area of one of the many residential expat compounds for foreign workers living in Jeddah.  Women are not required to wear abayas inside the compound walls, and most of these residential compounds do not allow Saudi nationals to live there.


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Our World: Saudi Arabia Residential Compound Entrance

Larger residential compounds for expat workers in Saudi Arabia generally offer high level security for its residents.  This is an obstacle course entrance typical of many compounds which leads to a guard gate.  The high walls surrounding the entire complex are all topped with spiraled barbed wire.  Once inside the compound, it appears much like typical communities in the west, where women can walk around in normal street clothes without the abaya.





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Resort Like Living - in the Compound

One of the draws for many workers from other countries is the lifestyle offered here in Saudi Arabia. Many expats live in compounds, which are walled-in communities where life is quite different from outside its wall.  Women do not have to wear the abaya inside the compound walls and in some compounds, women can even drive.  

Many compounds have resort-like swimming pool areas, exercise classes, tennis courts, bowling alleys, golf courses, restaurants, beauty salons, theaters, and grocery stores. They also offer easier access to transportation and a variety of events to keep residents as busy as they want to be.  

SkyWatch: Compound Pool

Many of the residential compounds in Saudi Arabia for expat workers from foreign countries afford a resort living lifestyle for its residents.  Female residents can wear whatever they wish inside the walls of the compound and can even drive vehicles in some.

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Our World: Unsafe Work Practises

There are hundreds of iron works shops around Jeddah, all producing things like railings, fences, doors, and window coverings.  It is rare to see workers using any type of safety equipment, like safety goggles or gloves or even proper work shoes. 

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SkyWatch: Beach Pool

This is the pretty scene out at one of Jeddah's beach resorts north of the city that caters to Jeddah's working expats.  You can see the Red Sea beyond the umbrellas in the center of the photo.



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SkyWatch: Inside a Compound

Inside the walls of Jeddah's residential compounds where working expats live, it usually doesn't look like the rest of the city at all - with lush tropical vegetation of palm trees and bougainvillea and other flowers.  Compounds are walled in with security guards on duty 24 hours a day.  Many also have barbed wire on top of the high walls and an obstacle course roadway one must drive through to enter the compound. 


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Jeddah: Compound Common Area

Another shot of a lovely pool area inside an expat compound in Jeddah.

Jeddah: Compound Pool Area

Many residential compounds in Jeddah are exclusive for foreign workers and do not allow Saudis to live there or even visit.  One reason is that inside the compound walls, women do not have to wear the black cloak or cover their hair.  Women can wear bathing suits when swimming or sunbathing at the beautiful pool areas inside the compounds.  Even at Saudi resorts that accommodate Saudi guests, many do not permit women to swim at all, unless there is a separate private pool provided just for women. 

Compound Residence

This is what the housing looks like in one of the residential compounds for foreign workers in Jeddah.  With the bougainvillaea, terra cotta color and the blue tiles around the windows, I am reminded of Mexican or Spanish housing.

Resort Style Living

This is another shot of the community pool area of one of the residential living compounds for foreign workers in Jeddah.