Our Women in the Field of Work

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And who does not know Mrs. Ramziya al-Nasouli, Lebanon's delegate to the Islamic Women's Congress in Pakistan and president of the Mouasat Charitable Society? This lady, this mother, was the finest ambassador for her country in Pakistan — a country whose people do not know whether Lebanon is a village or a province. This lady is the mother of five girls, four of whom are married, and all of them live happy and prosperous lives thanks to their mother's capability and her wisdom.

Q — We hear a great deal about your society; what are your aims, and how do you carry them out?

A — The aims of our society are the establishment of shelters and reformatories for girls who are minors, and we are now building up, little by little, the hospital and the dispensary, which serve 1,900 patients. We have a chemical laboratory, and we strive to serve the common class only; and our great hope is to extend our work to the villages.

Q — What is the saddest story you have met with among your patients who visit the hospital?

A — Some people brought us a pregnant woman with eight children, whom their father had abandoned out of the severity of his poverty. We took her to the hospital, and after a while she gave birth to twins who captured the attention of all the hospital's nurses. We kept her with us, together with her two babies, for a week, during which they were given tonics and nourishing foods — and all of it at the hospital's expense.

Q — Do you find encouragement from your husband for the work that you do?

A — No! My husband never interferes in my private affairs, and I have reached what I am by my own efforts alone.

Q — Do you believe that you have succeeded in combining work and motherhood?

A — Praise be to God; to Him alone belongs all the credit for my success. I am never behindhand in paying the necessary visits, although I deny myself certain social obligations.

I do not believe that every mother can do the work I do, for I seize opportunities constantly, and I have a strong will that has helped me never to put off until tomorrow what I can do today. Great difficulties have come my way, but I have come through them by my patience, my endurance, and my strength of will.

And how could it slip my mind to meet the makers of the generation, the fashioners of the ladies and men of the future? How could I forget our excellent lady teachers who head the schools and take their part in teaching? Mrs. Cortas's travel abroad deprived me of the honor of meeting her, but that does not prevent me from recording her name in this roll of honor. The second guide with whom I wished to meet was Mrs. Zafer Dabghi, teacher of music and singing in the children's schools; she also gives private lessons on the piano, by her modern method, to children up to the age of ten.

Q — How many pupils have you, and how do you carry out your work?
A — The number of my pupils is limited, because they are all at school and cannot come to me before four o'clock, and at that hour I am busy with my own children. I teach in the schools until four o'clock, then give private lessons by my own method from four until six, and that in my home.

Q — How have you been able to reconcile your work and your home?
A — I fall somewhat short at home on the side of sewing. I prepare part of my food in the morning and part of it in the evening, and the maid does the tidying and the household tasks.

Q — Do you face any difficulty in carrying on this work of yours?
A — No, because all my work is arranged and ordered. All my pupils go as I wish, because they began their lessons with me. And had I not found delight in teaching, I would not have kept on with my work.

Q — Are you fortunate in your married life and your working life?
A — Praise and thanks be to God; my husband prospers greatly, and my children trouble me only on their holidays, because my work is continuous and I must work while they are at home.

And many do not know that Mrs. Shayboub, the editor-in-chief of this magazine, is the mother of two children. With all her many labors at the broadcasting station and the magazine, and her lessons last year, she does not overlook even her children's birthdays. Come, visit her at whatever hour you please, and you will see her house in perfect order... even the flowers are not forgotten in adorning its rooms.

I left Mrs. Zafer Dabghi and set out to call on Mrs. Ni'mat Qaranful, president of the Child Care Society. Here she is, receiving me with a smiling mouth and a radiant face, and leading me into a charming salon, where she sat listening to my questions. My first question to her was this:

Q — How was your society founded, and do you believe that you are doing your work in full?
A — The society began its work in 1946, and I assumed its presidency in 1949; and I believe that the fruit of our labors is beginning to show even now. Every month we treat no fewer than 2,150 patients. There is no doubt that our work counts as strong work in itself. I intend to continue my efforts and to complete my mission even if I am not re-elected to the presidency at the appointed time. Our whole work rests upon the shoulders of the people; we spend 1,100 lira a month, all of it gathered from donations, for all our patients are in a pitiable state of grinding poverty. We now have four dispensaries, in which, during my presidency — that is, over a period of three years — we have treated no fewer than 21,520 patients; and we dispense the medicine each patient needs from a pharmacy attached to each dispensary. Our great hope is to increase the number of our dispensaries.

Q — How have you arranged your time so as to be able to combine your work at home and your work in the society?
A — I rise from sleep early and finish my household tasks at ten o'clock sharp, and then

I get in touch with the society by telephone. What has helped me to carry on these two labors is the ordering of my time in both of them. I prepare a special daily program for the society, and thus nothing of my life is lost. And I believe that this work I do preserves my contentment and my happiness, and lengthens for me the lives of my children and my husband. And if my husband travels — and he travels a great deal — I am always at ease on his account, for I feel that God will not strike me through my loved ones so long as I harm no one — nay, I have consecrated my life to others.

Q — Has your husband any influence worth mentioning upon your work and your directions?

A — Yes indeed! I have found great encouragement from him. He is never annoyed by my meetings; on the contrary, he guides me in all my work, and strives to gather donations and funds so as to support our work. Nor does he object to my meeting with men; rather, he opens his house and his heart to every meeting, so long as it profits the society.

Q — Do you believe that you have succeeded in combining the management of your home and the presidency of your society?

A — Of that I have no doubt whatsoever, and I believe that every mother can succeed in her work so long as her children are grown and able to carry out all their duties. Yet I never fail to be home before four o'clock, when I stay with my children until six, to help them with their school lessons and hear their news. After six, I either pay my visits or receive my guests. And I should like to draw your attention to the fact that no side of the social life lived by other ladies escapes me. I pay all my visits and receive all who wish to visit me. The telephone helps me greatly; most of my business is carried on by way of it. And thus you see that order helps the mother to live an easy, happy, beautiful life.

After this, shall we still say that woman is a deficient member of society, and that, as certain ill-wishers claim, she cannot think well and is not marked by strong management and exemplary energy?

You have wronged woman, you who say this! Here before you is a spotless page of her unceasing struggle — read, and behold, and then judge... and in your judgment be just!!