Hudson gets up-close look at Kuwait’s poor

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

The Port of Ash Shuiaba is a busy place, as evident by the top view of a supply ship loaded there. (Photo provided)

Getting deployed to Kuwait has been an exercise in humanity for U.S. Army Reserve Major Karen Hudson of York, Pa., who is the daughter of local residents H.C. and Lucille Hudson.

Hudson has gotten a close look at the plight of those who do hard labor for the United States military in Kuwait. After arriving in country in January, Hudson, who is a teacher in Pennsylvania, couldn’t think of a better way to channel efforts at her school district than to benefit those who are considered “third country nationals” in Kuwait.

Hudson said via e-mail from her post in Port of Ash Shuiaba that the third country nationals make roughly $300 per month after working six or seven days a week in 12-hour shifts and live in slums, while the majority of that money goes home to help feed their families. They latch down equipment, drive vehicles and operate forklift and cranes for the military, whose mission in Kuwait is to send equipment to troops in the Mideast.

“The countries these men come from have no middle class,” Hudson said, noting most are from India, Pakistan and the Philippines. “You are either wealthy or poor – there is no in between. Unlike in the United States, where a person can be born into poverty and work their way into the middle or upper classes, in these countries, if you are born in poverty, you will die in poverty.”

When her school district decided to help out, Hudson, who is the safety officer responsible for looking after everyone’s health at the port, thought it best the third country nationals be the recipients of the United States’ generosity. The school district collected items for about a month and shipped thousands of items to Kuwait. The items were delivered in June.

“It was a good feeling to see these men receive goods from my students back at home,” Hudson added. “Every item that was sent was taken by one of the men. Nothing was left. These were clothing items that in our country, would have been thrown away or given to the Salvation Army.”

Hudson also noted the third country nationals are not much different from the hundreds of families who migrated to the northern states from Tennessee in the 1950s to find work.

“People are the same everywhere,” Hudson said. “They want to make life better for their families and their children.”

While her parents reside in Warren County, Hudson is also the sister of Carol Neal, the granddaughter of Jesse and May (Ramsey) Hudson, and Herman and Minnie (Wood) Black. She has several relatives who live in Warren County.