‘I’m content’: 70-year-old widow’s bond with camels captivates Saudi Arabia

Dubai: In the heart of the Saudi desert, far from Riyadh’s towering skyscrapers and the bustle of modern city life, Rakiya Al Ruwaili has found a different kind of fulfilment — one built on memory, loyalty, and the soft rustle of camel hooves against the sand.

Rakiya, a woman in her seventies, is no ordinary herder. She has become a symbol of unwavering devotion and purpose in a world that often equates success with material wealth or social status.

For over four decades, she has lived in near-isolation among her camels — creatures she now considers her children, having lost her husband and never having children of her own.

“They became my life,” she told Saudi MBC TV. “I used to raise camels with my husband. After he passed away, I stayed with them. I wake and sleep with them. They are my comfort, my joy, my family.”

In a society where the elderly are often sidelined, Rakiya’s story has resonated with many Saudis, who see in her a rare embodiment of faith, endurance, and contentment with life’s fate. She doesn’t yearn for the air-conditioned comforts of urban life, nor is she drawn to modern technology. Her soul belongs to the desert, where she rises with the sun and moves with her herd.

Yet her life is not without hardship. Despite her self-sufficiency, one urgent need remains: water. She relies on a kind neighbor who fills her water tank, but she dreams of owning her own. “I don’t have a water truck,” she says simply. “Someone helps me, and may God reward him. But I pray I can have one of my own.”

She also dreams of something greater—participating in the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival. “I saw camels sold there for five or ten million riyals,” she said with a laugh, half wistful, half hopeful. “Maybe one day, God will bless me with a camel like that. I’ll sell her and buy from the best herd I’ve seen. That would bring me joy.”

“I’m content,” she says. “This life, this desert... it’s enough for me.”

- Huda Ata is an independent writer based in the UAE.