Nathalie has three children. I'm their grandmother, not a doctor, but I would say that Samir, the eldest, is the one most affected. Samir is seven years old. He doesn't speak well in French, English or Arabic. He understands a bit of everything, but he doesn't speak a lot. He doesn't go to school. Theoretically, he should be going into grade 2. His father hasn't registered him for school this fall. In the past, he said Samir was too stupid to go to school. So he didn't send him. Last year, after I exercised some pressure, the Saudi government paid kindergarten costs for Samir. Now he has come out of kindergarten. This year, the Saudi government doesn't want to pay for Samir. They rarely pay pay for children. There's no room in the public school. School isn't mandatory over there, and it's the father who decides.
On August 26th, 2009. See this statement in context.