This association was founded in São Paulo on the fifth of September, 1947, by the finest ladies of the Lebanese colony, and in a short time, through its effort and activity and the generosity of the openhanded among the sons of the colony, it succeeded in purchasing a plot of land of ten thousand square meters in the loveliest spot of the city, on which to build an institute for the protection of children. While awaiting the fulfillment of its aim, the association began its work in a house it rented and equipped with the most modern facilities, and it now takes in a number of children for whom it has provided every means of health and culture; a team of women teachers and of doctors has undertaken their upbringing and care. The association will also see to placing the outstanding children in the higher schools at its own expense. The association has a special fund for the aid moneys that are collected and kept, to be distributed equally among the children when they leave the institute. The association has a handwork branch comprising a large number of the ladies and young ladies of the colony, who sew clothes for

the children of the institute and for the poor, to whom the association distributes clothing and food on the holidays. And it is prepared, once it erects its building in the near future, to add to it a branch for teaching the trades as well.

As for the association's revenues, they consist of its members' subscriptions, the donations of its supporters, and the proceeds of the literary and social parties and the charity bazaars organized by the administration.

The association is run, and its affairs supervised, by a distinguished elite of ladies of Lebanese origin. They are:

The Administrative Board

President: Rose Chafic Maalouf; Vice-President: Violette Chidiac Jafet; First Secretary: Salma Azzam Azzam; Second Secretary: Adele Iskandar Nabhan; Treasurer: Malaka Youssef Abs; Deputy Treasurer: Amalie Philippe Lutfallah; Business Manager: Alice Iskandar Maalouf; General Agent: Eugenie Najib Qatini Maalouf.