A Village from Lebanon

On the occasion of the season of distributing school diplomas in the various universities and schools, The Woman's Voice entrusted one of its correspondents to bring us some information of interest to readers, men and women alike, on this subject, and she came back to us with the following delightful report:

❊ Al-Koura is one of the districts of North Lebanon; its population numbers about forty thousand, and it comprises nearly forty villages.

❊ The town of Bishmizzine is counted among the most advanced villages of al-Koura and the most eager for learning.

❊ The proportion of the educated in al-Koura is about eighty percent, and in some villages it reaches ninety.

❊ The number of diplomas earned by the sons and daughters of Bishmizzine for the year 1947 came to about twenty-nine, the highest among them a physician's diploma and a woman lawyer's diploma, and the lowest, dozens of upper secondary certificates.

❊ Among the sons of Bishmizzine who graduated this year is one physician from the American University of Beirut, Dr. Hanna Qaysar al-Hayek, and one woman lawyer, Miss Mona Jirji al-Hayek.

❊ Three young women earned three bachelor's degrees from the American University of Beirut: Miss Adma Jaha, a bachelor's in English literature with distinction — and she received a scholarship from Smith College, one of the finest colleges in America; Miss Layla Shahin, a bachelor's in microbiology; and Miss Najla Najjar, a bachelor's in education.

❊ The first school founded in al-Koura was in Bishmizzine, in 1876. Mrs. Sukkar al-Khoury taught there — the mother of His Grace Archimandrite Boulos al-Khoury and of the lawyer Mr. Fahim al-Khoury — assisted by her sister Theodora, widow of Ibrahim Baroud.

❊ The number of those from Bishmizzine who have graduated as physicians up to the present time is eight.

❊ Bishmizzine has four lawyers, among them a young woman in the prime of life.

❊ It has one engineer, among the finest officials of the Lebanese Public Works Department, Mr. Salim Jaha.

❊ It has four holders of the M.A. degree in the sciences: one in history, one in chemistry, one in the social sciences, and one in mathematics — Mr. Nicolas Shahin, who earned his degree in 1930.

❊ It also has a doctor of philosophy, Dr. Afif Tannous, who is currently in America.

❊ It has dozens of bachelor's degrees in the higher sciences.

❊ It has an upper secondary school that prepares its students, boys and girls, for entrance to the American University of Beirut.

❊ Bishmizzine has a deputy representing the Orthodox of the North, the eminent Mr. Michel Mafraj.

❊ Bishmizzine also had its share in Ottoman politics, for both Elias al-Malki and Abdullah al-Hayek entered the Administrative Council.

❊ It has one metropolitan, His Grace Metropolitan Alexandros Jaha, the Orthodox Metropolitan of Homs, one of the learned prelates, who holds the highest degrees from Russian universities.

❊ And finally, Bishmizzine has one gendarme.

May we not hope, then, that all the villages of Lebanon will reach this lofty level of learning!!