"The Woman's Voice" in Argentina — Mrs. Evita Perón

The Woman's Voice in Argentina
Mrs. Alice

The Woman's Voice received from the wife of Lebanon's minister plenipotentiary in Argentina, Adib [...], an account of the consort of His Excellency General Perón, President [...], of whom the world press has spoken [...]; and so Mrs. Nahhas comes today to convey it in description and expression.

Mrs. Perón, the First Lady of Argentina, enters her country's modern history on the most prominent of its pages. Wherever you turn, you hear talk of her; wherever you look, you see a picture of her. Mrs. Perón, wife of His Excellency the President of the Argentine Republic, has succeeded in setting her name running there on every tongue and [...], as befits every capable woman in her undertakings [...], possessed of a will in ambition, a conscience in constructive work, and an all-embracing human feeling [...]

...its benefits, regarding it as one of the social works protected by the new Argentine constitution. That was a short while ago, when I paid a visit to Mrs. Perón in her office at the Ministry of Labor. She was splendid in her reception... gracious in her conversation... candid in inviting me to inspect the labor office, where hundreds of women and children were awaiting her, asking her for medical assistance, food, and clothing; proud of her project, speaking of it as though she were speaking of a piece of her own heart — of this ceaseless movement, with its firm steps, that knows how to cover the road, and knows how to stir the sentiment of charity and lofty compassion, winning the love of the crowds and their cheers. For it is well known of her that she has never passed through a demonstration, or made a journey, or sat on the balcony of a gathering, official or unofficial, without cheers rising in her name, asking for a greeting, a smile, or a word...

...And I expressed to Mrs. Perón my wish to see some of the relief and distribution centers. She was greatly pleased by the request and gave instructions for the following day.

We returned from the labor office to the reception hall, and there I presented to Mrs. Perón, with my thanks, as a token of acquaintance and esteem, a piece of brocade and a handbag made in Zouk. She accepted them, with thanks in her turn, and contemplated them, repeating that she had heard a great deal about the craftsmanship of the East, and especially about our fine handwork.

The next day, Mrs. Perón sent an official from the palace with a private car, which carried me in the company of two ladies — Mrs. Najjar, wife of the counselor of the legation, and Mrs. Hibri, wife of the attaché. We visited three large, spacious houses that receive women with their children: women who have no work to live by, whom husband and family have neglected, and who find there someone to receive them kindly, lifting their spirits so that they may see life from the window of light. They stay in these houses for two weeks, a temporary residence for them and their children, until permanent work is arranged for them. In every house of these institutions there is a chapel for the residents, and nuns keeping watch. For religion in this country is the first and fundamental factor, and the Argentine people are a very pious people, living in peace, tranquility, and calm, far removed from the spirit of strife and crime...

As for what I saw in these institutions — storerooms beyond counting, of clothing, foodstuffs, household utensils, children's toys, and pupils' books; in a word, everything you could think of is to be found there, fit to be distributed free of charge to whoever is in need of it...

A request is submitted to Mrs. Perón; she studies it in her office at the Ministry of Labor and issues, on the spot, the order to her staff to grant it — as though they were electric wires carrying out whatever she commands... from morning until evening, five days a week, and very often

she takes her midday meal in her office.

The most prominent idea in her project, as she assured me and as I sensed for myself, is not charity as pure charity, nor good works as pure good works, but the raising of the level of those in need of help, so as to carry them, in these houses of hers, out of the atmosphere of poverty, misery, ill fortune, and the hardships of their surroundings, into a better condition — one they themselves feel to be better, through their contact with the spirit of good fellowship, order, and contented living. That is to say, her institution is a humane institution teaching, by example absorbed, the improvement of the spirit of the women who come to it...

In every house there are dozens of beds, besides the beds of the children, for whom she has provided in her hospitality, one after another, clothing, food, school supplies, toys, and the other requirements of the schoolboy or schoolgirl.

The First Lady of Argentina, in her many houses, is a help to the worker and his family in the hour he falls into need. For this reason she has thought of his old age and his sickness, and has built for him, in the suburbs of the capital, a home — the great home well known here — arranged in the best manner for the provision of every comfort. And she is likewise proceeding to erect numerous hospitals and shelters in the various Argentine provinces.

There is no disputing that Argentina, as is famous of it, is a rich country of countless bounties. But at the same time, there is a numerous class, devoid of happiness in its material and moral life, in need of someone to raise its level. This is the meaning of the project of "Evita Perón," who did not establish institutions merely to fill stomachs or clothe bodies, but to show the needy the meaning of life and the roads to happiness. She works without wearying, devoting her time to hearing the requests of those who have no one to hear them; and so you see them before her institutions like a sweeping torrent.

This is what moved me to describe for the readers of the esteemed Woman's Voice what I have described, in my belief that woman — and woman alone — is able to raise the level of society and to drive from it the specters of misery, pain, and want.