In Society

A Brilliant Success for the Elementary Section of the Lebanese Women's League

The fifth grade — numbering only seven — sits for the Lebanese Certificat examination, and six of them pass.

The model kindergarten of the Lebanese Women's League was founded in 1945 and advanced by degrees to the founding of elementary classes. And although the number of girl and boy pupils in the fifth and sixth grades is small, the association believes in its national and cultural mission and perseveres in its patriotic struggle, aided by a select band of esteemed women teachers who believe in that same mission. This picture shows some of the girl and boy pupils of the elementary section.

At its annual celebration this year the school exhibited the children's handwork, and those present watched charming rhythmic dances and listened to sweet childhood songs. The opening address was given by the school's directress, Mrs. Nazik Sarkis, who welcomed those present and touched on the institute's development and its results; she then stressed the necessity of cooperation between home and school, and urged in her speech the necessity of unifying the programs of study in Lebanon, saying that nothing will pull us out of the cultural chaos we suffer at the present time but a unified national cultural program. Her address had the finest effect on the hearts of those present, who appreciate the tremendous efforts Mrs. Sarkis has exerted to raise the elementary section to an honorable scholarly and literary level.

At the celebration of the kindergarten of the Lebanese Women's League, the address of the day was given by Dr. Jamal Karam Harfush, one of the founders of the kindergarten and the watchful guardian of its progress.

After giving a glimpse of the history of the Lebanese Women's League and of the kindergarten project, whose founding was accomplished in 1945, she said:

The aim the League still seeks through this humble educational endeavor is directed, at its core, toward raising this kindergarten from the level of the ordinary educational institution to the level of the model institution, in the belief that Lebanon's need for quality in the field of education and instruction exceeds its need for number and quantity.

At the close of her speech Dr. Jamal Harfush addressed her words to the children, saying:

"You, little living ones, are for Lebanon its glory and its pride; you are its brimming hope, you are its smiling tomorrow — so march toward that tomorrow with our hearts and minds watching over you, and may the shadow of firm faith in the immortality of Lebanon, and in the beauty of its mission in strengthening the civilization of man, keep you company."

* The Village Welfare Committee of the Lebanese Women's Union joined with the Orthodox Hand-work Society in holding a Kermess at the American School for Girls; pupils of a number of schools took part in presenting its games, so that the school courtyard — for all its breadth — resembled an amusement park on a smaller scale; and the children who attended the Kermess, their number exceeding 400, set about frolicking and making merry and letting loose their loud laughter, in token of their pleasure and delight.

* The Al-Nahda An-Nisaiyah Society of Sidon invited Mrs. Muneera Shehadeh and Mrs. Anissa Najjar, on Saturday, May 24, to speak at its session. The society's president, Mrs. Suad al-Solh, welcomed those present and introduced the two speakers to them. Mrs. Shehadeh spoke of the meeting of the General Arab Union in Baghdad and the warm welcome the ladies of Iraq gave their sisters from the various Arab countries. Then Mrs. Najjar spoke, saying that sound breeding is a national work and that it is necessary for marriage to rest upon reason; and she did not favor marriage between relatives. After that the members of the society turned to their business...

* Mrs. Zafer Dabaghi gave a family party at which she presented her piano pupils; the audience listened to a company of children playing the melodies of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Bach, and other great world musicians. Those who most delighted the ears at this party were the child Myrna Nassim Majdalani; Mrs. Dabaghi's children Layla, Khalil, and Samia; and the child Grace Alfred Diab. They played their pieces with a surpassing skill that well deserved the loud applause it won. The Lebanese public appreciates in Mrs. Dabaghi her gifts and her efforts in guiding the little ones toward the understanding of world music and the raising of its standing, after the example of the advanced nations.

* Among the news of the Young Muslim Women: their association gave at its house, in honor of Mr. John Bruins, counselor of the American Legation, and his lady wife, a tea party that gathered a large number of foreigners and of the great Lebanese families.

The association's president, Mrs. Habiba Shaaban, addressed the guests with kind words of welcome, and touched on the most important aspects of the mission of the Young Muslim Women's Association and on the plan drawn up for the expansion of this great humanitarian project.

Last month the engagement took place of a friend of The Woman's Voice, Miss Marie Khalil Azzam, to Mr. Nabih al-Hashim, a teacher in the government schools of Zahle. The engagement party was confined to the families and relatives of the betrothed pair.

The Woman's Voice, which discerns in the betrothed pair intelligence and refinement, offers them its finest congratulations and good wishes, and wishes them the fullness of joy.

★ The general assembly of the Mouwasat Charitable Society met, and the election of the members of the administrative committee took place; the winners were:
Mrs. Ramziyya Nassouli — president
Mrs. Nazli al-Solh — vice-president
Mrs. Adiba Kaddoura Kaz'oun — secretary
Dr. Mustafa Khalidi — head of the hospital administration
Dr. Hamdi al-Hoja — treasurer
And elected to membership were the ladies:
Mariam Bahsali, Raafat Arab, Amira al-Daouk, and Dr. Sami al-Husami.

★ Beirut College for Women presented its annual dramatic performance, and this year's program was made up of two short plays instead of one long one as is customary. The first play, according to the program, was a poetic drama composed by the Rahbani Brothers especially for the College, symbolizing the birth of purity and the triumph of love in the eternal struggle standing between good and evil. The second play was "I Want to Kill" by Tawfiq al-Hakim. The College took a new step this year in assigning the men's roles to men in both plays. Miss Marie Sabri directed and supervised the two plays with her well-known capacity for management and taste for beauty, and the two plays — especially the first of them — came out exceedingly beautiful, bearing witness to what this institution expends in the cause of stimulating the theatrical art among its students.

★ The Union for the Protection of Juveniles in Lebanon held its annual general meeting under the chairmanship of Mr. Georges Haimari, in the lecture hall belonging to the Ministry of National Education.

The opening address, in French, was by the Union's president, Mrs. Alice Nakkash, and lasted fifteen minutes; in it she reviewed the association's most important work in Beirut and gave statistics on the cases of vagrancy and delinquency examined by the Union for the Protection of Juveniles, and on how they are settled in the manner approved by educators, for the good of these juveniles and a sound view of their future.

She was followed by Miss Marie Rizk, the Union's delegate in the Beqaa, who gave a sample of the association's work in the outlying districts.

Finally Father Victor Prevost spoke on the subject of "The Protection of Juveniles and the Cinema," dwelling at length on the importance of imposing censorship on all films and of barring juveniles from whatever does not suit their mentality or may cause them nervous agitation or moral deviation...

And he said: our association stands ready to pursue this grave educational question with the responsible authorities until its endeavor succeeds, God willing.

* Among the most important manifestations of women's activity in Lebanon last month was the great charity bazaar held by the Islamic Orphanage Society, following its custom every year.

The hall of the Orphanage was packed with hundreds of visitors, led by the members of the society headed by Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura.

This year's charity bazaar contained handwork of every kind, ready-made clothes, and artistic pieces, all of them the work of the girl pupils; and the movement of sales was highly successful, marked by soundness of taste and moderation of prices.

It was noticed that a large number of foreign ladies attended this bazaar and set about buying with remarkable eagerness.

★ The Children's Welfare Society — Hamra branch — gave its annual celebration to close its year's work; and behold, the guests found themselves in a refined, well-ordered atmosphere, gathering a choice company of sweet little ones who perfumed the air with their soft chirping, amid innocent childhood songs, light dialogues and verses, and playlets delightful to hear and sweet in their effect. Those present marveled at a humanitarian institution in which perfection and care reach such a degree — as though the children who took part in the proceedings of the celebration came from refined circles and privileged surroundings! For they differed in nothing from the most advanced kindergartens, whether in beauty of diction, excellence of delivery, or fineness of acting...

Miss Diana Ghantous welcomed those present and spoke of the various stages the society has traversed in pursuit of the realization of its hopes.

She was followed by Mrs. Marie Siryani, who thanked those present for their share in offering material and moral assistance toward sustaining the projects of "Child Welfare," carrying its three schools to the highest possible level, and securing schooling and clothing for 400 children.

Of the society's aims she said:
"They are the protection of Lebanese children in general; care and assistance for the small children who lack the necessities of life; and helping to give them the good upbringing that serves the good of our society, so that they may become working members, useful to their homeland."

It is worth mentioning that the members of Child Welfare, especially the president Mrs. Malaki Haik and Mrs. Marie Siryani, have never ceased to spend the precious and the cheap alike in the service of their society's schools; they let no favorable opportunity pass without seizing it, wherever seizing it holds good and benefit.

So The Woman's Voice, which appreciates in our striving women their activity, their selflessness, and their sincerity in work, offers the Children's Welfare Society, and the ladies in charge of its projects, its sincerest admiration and esteem.

★ Women's Solidarity in Lebanon held its general session at the Military Club, where the members listened to the report of the president of the Solidarity, Mrs. Laure Tabet, Lebanon's delegate to the conference on women's rights held in Geneva. And after Mrs. Laure Tabet gave a summary of the work and resolutions of this conference, Mrs. Emily Fares Ibrahim delivered an address on

★ ... And here is another annual celebration for the distribution of diplomas: that of the American Beirut College for Women, which took place in the College garden in a splendid fashion setting off the beauty of this lofty institution standing on the breast of that green hill in Ras Beirut.

The various diplomas were distributed to a hundred students, who paraded in the black gowns (Caps & Gowns) to the strains of light music.

The Arabic speaker of the ceremony was Miss Marie Sabri, professor at the institute, and among what she said:

"Has it occurred to us what an upheaval could come about here if every one of these hundred girls performed her mission to the fullest? Have we thought of the great cry — the cry of general reform — that could sweep over all the Arab lands together, if every one of these hundred were seated at the head of a reforming institution or a constructive organization?"

And she closed her speech saying:

"Learning never was, and never will be, an instrument of servitude, but a means to truth, goodness, and freedom... You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free... Dear graduates, each one of you now stands armed with light, freedom, and knowledge... Today you fill your country's eye; toward you all glances turn and on you the hopes hang — so what will you do?!"

the political culture of woman. She was followed by Mrs. Sumayya al-Khazen, who spoke of the beggars project which the Solidarity has adopted; and a committee was appointed, composed of the ladies Nakkash, Khazen, Matran, Nasr, and Nasrallah, to study the project and follow it up with the authorities.

Finally Mrs. Tabet spoke of the condition of the Armenians in the Quarantina, and asked that this subject be studied with the municipality.