Saad Ismail Al Jassim, the country's last pearl digger, in his Pahlwan shop, in the Souq Wakif in Doha, Qatar.Jaime Villanueva
Saad Ismail Al Jassim was born 87 years ago in a country that did not exist.
Qatar was then a British protectorate in which barely 10,000 people lived - today there are 2.7 million - who dedicated themselves to pearls, livestock or small businesses.
He chose the first.
When he turned 15, he began to accompany pearl seekers, to familiarize himself with the activity that was the main source of exports from the small territory —equivalent to the Region of Murcia— for years.
At 18 he debuted.
“We were in big boats, because every diver needs a helper.
We jumped into the sea with a stone tied to our feet, a net to collect the oysters around our necks, and a clip on our noses to keep the water out.
We spent two minutes without breathing, taking as many as we could, until they brought us up.
It was always in summer
because in winter, at those depths, the water was too cold.
And we could spend three or four months in the sea, diving from dawn to dusk, non-stop.
We did everything on the boat: sleep, work, eat... In the morning we drank dates and coffee, and at night, fish and rice cooked with date syrup, which gave us energy and quenched our thirst”.
It was not a comfortable trade and the competition from artificial pearls soon reduced his profits, but Saad speaks nostalgically of those years, when there was no air conditioning, no skyscrapers, and customers wearing jerseys of dozens of soccer teams asking “how much does it cost? ”
in different languages in his souk shop.
Detail of the necklaces that Saad Ismail Al Jassim sells in his shop in the Wakif souk, in Doha.Jaime Villanueva
– How many oysters do you have to open to find a pearl?
– Each oyster is an opportunity.
Sometimes you take 1,000 and there are none.
Other times you get 12 and half of them have pearls.
Patience was the most important thing in this job.
It says “was” because there are no longer any pearl diggers in Qatar.
“We have oil and gas and people make a lot of money from it.
The country has changed a lot too fast.
All countries change.
But I'm still the same.
I could dive anywhere now,” she says.
Actually, Saad has had many lifetimes.
In addition to being a pearl digger, he was a bodybuilder and an officer in the Qatari Defense Department.
In his shop in the Wakif souk in Doha, he exhibits old portraits of when he had muscles on muscles, and on a small television he shows his clientele videos on a loop of when he was diving and when he walked on glass or stones were broken on his chest —he also had his fakir stage.
"If you pay me, I could still do it," he jokes.
In 1958, he won a bodybuilding contest in Qatar that Shell already sponsored —in 1940 the first oil deposits were discovered, and in 1971, the year of independence, gas— and his long and varied resume also includes a few years as an employee from an oil company.
Saad Ismail Al Jassim, among pearls and memories.
Jaime Villanueva
It was the emir who gave him the pearl shop in the souk and it was the country's authorities that included Saad in a campaign with David Beckham to publicize the World Cup and, at the same time, the country, like everything the emirate has done for 12 years. years, when it took over the tournament venue.
Qatar has viewed the competition as a major public relations and image laundering campaign and has invested dizzying amounts not only in infrastructure, but also in country brand ambassadors in the hope that the great football showcase will help them attract tourists. in the future —they have set themselves the goal of receiving 6.5 million a year by 2030—.
“It is truly an incredible country to spend a few days”, affirms the ex-galactic before the cameras walking through Doha.
“Beckham came, he sat down and we talked for over an hour.
Figo also came [recruited for another ad by the main competitor of one of the World Cup sponsors]”, explains Saad proudly showing on his Instagram account – opened the day of the British visit – photographs with both.
“Ah, I was also a footballer!” He assures.
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