worker to follow up these cases, verify their results, and record them... A few days ago a boy met me in the street — intelligence showing plainly on him — and implored me to place him in the juvenile reformatory so that he might learn, because his family is poor and cannot give him schooling...
Q — And had this boy any previous acquaintance with you?
A — No; but he had heard about us and about the reformatory from his companions, and he came running to beg us to help him toward learning.
Q — And naturally you helped him... And do you, Mrs. Nakkash, keep in touch with the delinquent juveniles while they are in the reformatory?
A — Naturally; and it lies at the core of our responsibility to correspond with the juveniles in the reformatory, to visit them, to consult with them on their problems, and to encourage them by the positive methods that do so much good. As for the negative methods — beating, threats, and intimidation — they are of no use in most cases.
Q — Naturally; we live in an age in which modern education has reached a degree of progress that justifies pronouncing such a categorical judgment... And now I have another question: do you, in your social institution, concern yourselves with juveniles who are exposed to delinquency — I mean, before they have committed any offense? Is there a watch kept over abnormal cases, and a means of treating them?
A — Of course; the social worker has a thousand eyes, trained on the wretched social environments exposed to these conditions.
Q — Can you recall for us a particular incident in which the social worker saved a particular child from falling and going astray?
A — Yes, Mrs. Shayboub. Some time ago the worker discovered a child, orphaned of both father and mother, living with an aunt in poor circumstances who had not the means to give him schooling... The worker discovered him picking up printed scraps of paper from the street and sitting in a corner of it, trying to puzzle out their signs and so to teach himself to read alone! In his eyes were intelligence and a strong desire for learning, and he begged her to help him!
Q — Poor child!... What did the worker do for him?
A — She applied with all zeal and concern to the Ministry of Health, and thanks to her energy the Ministry placed him, at its own expense, in the institution of Father Cortbawi, where he will have the opportunity to learn an honorable trade, in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic...
Q — A great work indeed — God give you strength... And before we close this session, and in
view of your experience, Mrs. Nakkash, as president of this institution for eight years... I should like to hear your opinion on the future of the "Union for the Protection of Juveniles" in Lebanon...
A — I am very sorry to say that public opinion in Lebanon is still ignorant of the gravity of this social responsibility which the "Union for the Protection of Juveniles" carries in Lebanon, and that personal donations, together with the ten thousand liras we receive yearly from the government, do not cover the expenses of the office and the staff.
Q — That is certain. And what do you propose in this situation?
A — I consider that the only solution is for the government to adopt this project through our institution and through the other private institutions, by extending to them subsidies large enough to cover all the expenses, after the example of the advanced countries, such as England and France.
And I consider, finally, that raising the social level in our ignorant and wretched environment is the best positive means of fighting Communism and of stamping it out.
Q — You are right, Mrs. Nakkash, and in closing I cannot but offer my heartfelt praise to your energetic person and to the twenty members who work with you for the protection and rescue of the juveniles of our country. I appeal to the honored government to give due consideration and study to the sound proposal you have just put forward; and I hope that this project of yours will be among the projects that woman will take upon her shoulders on the day when it is her right to say her word in the Lebanese Parliament.
A — God willing...!!
Somerset Maugham said: All the unhappiness of this world comes from the fact that giving up good habits is far easier than giving up bad ones.
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And Seneca said: You can share in making a human being happy by what you take away from his desires, not by what you add to his possessions!
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And Arnold Bennett said: The best cure for your sorrows is to dash forth like a knight in the lead, in search of your store of consolations.