I recently heard of one parent who managed to find a place for her child at DESS. She only had to wait two years. As well as repeated visits to the school, she also chased them with regular telephone calls, e-mails etc. Of course there are quite a few other nationalities at DESS. Not all of the children there are Brits, although quite a few are. As well as the horrors of school waiting lists, a new family arriving in Doha will encounter another unpleasant phenomenon: the Doha traffic. The "school run" usually coincides with the rush to get to work in the morning.