In Society

★ The past month recorded a manifest victory for the Lebanese woman: the government amended Legislative Decree No. 6 concerning the electoral law with another granting all Lebanese women the absolute right to exercise their political rights.

At the meeting held by the League of Women's Organizations in Lebanon on February 17, a great gathering of women, headed by Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, went to the Presidential Palace, where they were received by His Excellency the President and Their Excellencies the head of state and the ministers, and expressed their sincere thanks to the honored government for the goodly step it had graciously taken in extending political rights to all Lebanese women citizens, on condition only that their names be entered on the electoral rolls without any special formality. With this was annulled the first decree, which had required of the woman voter possession of the elementary-school certificate.

On this occasion Mrs. Emily Nasrallah, one of our women most ardent for the cause, delivered a fine address, in which she said:
"...Your task and ours is not yet ended." "...We believe that in this near future there will be no buying of votes and consciences in our Lebanon, and no bargaining over positions..."

★ The Lebanese Women's League held a general meeting at the Military Club, its purpose being, first, to hear a lecture by Mrs. Eva Malik, wife of Dr. Charles Malik, Lebanon's Minister Plenipotentiary in Washington, and second, to elect four new members to the board of directors.

The president, Mrs. Heneni Tarcha, opened the meeting by presenting the lecturer as a lady who is one of the pillars of the association and one of the workers in the women's renaissance. Then Mrs. Eva Malik rose and congratulated the ladies on the success they had achieved in winning their political rights and in entering the Municipal Council. She then drew a comparison between the Lebanese woman and the American, saying that the two keep pace with each other in culture and in social service, and that all our women need is solidarity, the uniting of forces, and self-confidence. She then took up the capabilities of the American woman, and the general awareness that embraces every side of her life, and her eagerness to become acquainted with all the international questions, and especially the questions of the Arabs. Mrs. Malik said: the American woman feels the ill conduct of her country and her government toward the Arabs in the Palestine question, and wishes that she herself could mend what has been spoiled. And there is one truth that admits of no doubt: that Eisenhower's victory in the presidency of the United States is owed in the first degree to the American woman's enthusiasm for him — and this is decisive proof that woman's power in this age is no longer a thing to be trifled with!

After Mrs. Malik finished her talk, the election of the members to the administrative board took place, and the winners were Mesdames Adelaide Rishani, Salwa Mahmasani Moumina, Claire Adam, and Samia Qasim.

* At eleven o'clock on the morning of Friday, February 20, the members of the Lebanese Women's League, headed by Mrs. Heneni Tarcha, hastened to the kindergarten to receive the First Lady of Lebanon, Mrs. Zalfa Chamoun, and Mrs. Chehab, wife of His Excellency the Prime Minister, and with her a number of ministers' wives and prominent women personalities.

It was a phenomenon worth recording that neither the foulness of the weather nor the abundance of the rains kept these gatherings from appearing at the appointed hour, in answer to the Lebanese Women's League's invitation to become acquainted with the kindergarten in its eighth year, and then to move on to Ouzai, where the new kindergarten has been rising for more than a year.

In the kindergarten's friendly atmosphere the ladies listened to the little ones' songs and their warm welcome; and the child who presented flowers, in the name of the kindergarten's children, to Mrs. Chamoun and Mrs. Chehab, won two kisses that will remain among the dearest memories of his childhood!...

At the new "kindergarten" at Ouzai the ladies inspected the new building and expressed their utmost admiration for the design of the building and for the beautiful spot chosen, and especially for the broad open stretch that will become a playground unequaled by any other in Lebanon.

For the occasion Mrs. Chamoun and Mrs. Chehab each donated to the kindergarten the sum of 500 Lebanese lira, apologizing for the smallness of the amount... As for Mrs. Tarcha, president of the League, and her fellow members, they were, as is their habit, a model of taste and graciousness...

* It has been noticed of late that the First Lady of Lebanon has been carrying on a wide activity in visiting the women's institutions and acquainting herself with their work. Mrs. Chamoun, accompanied by Mrs. Chehab, wife of His Excellency the Prime Minister, and by the wives of the ministers and some official personalities, visited the Islamic Orphanage and the day nursery attached to it; and the members of the orphanage's women's committee, presided over by Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, acquainted the gracious guests with the work of this humanitarian institution, at which everyone marveled.

Mrs. Chamoun and Mrs. Chehab each donated the sum of one thousand Lebanese lira as encouragement to the Islamic Orphanage in the pursuit of its splendid humanitarian work.

★ The Union of Lebanese University Women held a meeting of mutual acquaintance at the house of Dr. Zahia Kaddoura on Sunday, February 15; at the meeting the union's statutes were read out and ratified.
At the same hour of the following week, the preparatory committee addressed a general invitation to all university women at the same place, and at this meeting the official elections were held, yielding the following result:

Dr. Zahia Kaddoura: President
Mrs. Faiza Maalouf Antiba: Vice-President
Miss Ihsan Dimashqiyah: Secretary-General
Miss Amina Faour: Secretary
Dr. Hayat Ghandour: Secretary
Miss Samia Aawar: Treasurer
Mrs. Rida Miqdadi: Adviser
Miss Jamila Khoury: Adviser

The Women's League society in Ras Beirut has been accustomed to give every year a variety entertainment in which a number of schools and institutions take part, the proceeds of which are spent on material help to some of our girls, that they may be able to obtain a university education.
"The Woman's Voice," honoring this noble aim and appreciating the efforts of our excellent ladies, hopes that the ladies will champion this project, and urges families to attend this year's entertainment, which will be held in the "West Hall" of the American University of Beirut on Saturday, March 14, 1953, at 3 p.m.

★ In commemoration of the poet Elias Abu Shabaka, the Ahl al-Qalam Society held a ceremony in the hall of the Ministry of Education on the occasion of the passage of nine years since the poet's death. A select company of writers and poets spoke at the ceremony, recounting Abu Shabaka's merits and his part in the revival of Arabic poetry and the creation of a school all his own, and in translating a number of Western works into Arabic.

Among the speakers was Mrs. Emily Fares Ibrahim, whose subject was: Once on the Roads of Life. She spoke of the poetry of Elias Abu Shabaka and its influence on the various classes of readers. She then went on to say that he was not of those who affect complexity in picturing their feelings, so as to delude people into thinking them strange; nor was he, moreover, of the conceited ones who consider that descending into the flood of life, and feeling the problems of the common run of people, is something that touches their poetic standing.

★ The Lebanese Women's Union, presided over by Mrs. Evelyne Bustros, has continued its meetings with the Women's Solidarity, presided over by Mrs. Laure Tabet, until the two parties came at last to the drawing up of a constitution, under which the new organization has been named "the League of Women's Organizations in Lebanon."

★ Here is happy news we bring to our little children: the reopening of the "Juveniles' Club," Sadat Street, Ras Beirut. This club, which the little ones love, had suspended its work for a spell of time for purely material reasons; and here it is today returning to its former activity, believing more firmly than ever in the educational mission to which it has vowed itself.

This "Juveniles' Club" is a project of the Committee for the Recreation of Juveniles, attached to the Lebanese Society for Public Health. It is a modern building equipped with all manner of arts of entertainment and profit, such as cinema, reading, singing, dancing, acting, and various athletic games.

Its hours are, for Monday and Tuesday, from 4 to 6 in the afternoon, and for the remaining days, Sunday excepted, from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. The children have been divided into three groups according to their ages. As for the subscription, it is as follows:

50 Lebanese piasters, daily subscription
300 Lebanese piasters, monthly subscription
2,500 Lebanese piasters, yearly subscription
1,000 from January 31 to June 30
And there is a special discount for brothers and sisters...

So "The Woman's Voice" honors the zeal of the Committee for the Recreation of Juveniles, headed by Mrs. Edma Shakhashiri, and wishes this club every flourishing and progress, that it may fill a great gap in the life of our rising generation.

★ During the past month the marriage was concluded of Dr. Munir Salman to Miss May Khalil Alameddine, and a week before it the bridegroom's brother, Dr. Kamal Salman, was married to Miss Asma Abdul-Malik.

So "The Woman's Voice" raises its warmest congratulations to the twin brothers and to the families of Salman, Alameddine, and Abdul-Malik, wishing that all their days may remain in the flower of the wedding feast, and that their married life may be completed with blessed fruit.

★ Then in Homs, on the evening of Saturday, February 14, was concluded the betrothal of the young engineer Adib Kama to the charming Miss Suad Mawwash, daughter of the great merchant George Mawwash — this at the house of the bride-to-be's grandfather, Mr. Daoud Mawwash.

Miss Suad is one of the students of the graduating class at the American Girls' College, Beirut... The betrothal gathered a large company of family and friends.

So the magazine "The Woman's Voice" wishes the betrothed pair the fullness of joy and happiness, that this gladness welling up from the depths may remain for their tender youth and for all who shelter within it.

★ In the first days of the current month the Mar Elias Orphanage gave its annual entertainment under the patronage of the wife of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mrs. Zalfa Chamoun. The entertainment was the height of simplicity and taste, comprising some theatrical scenes and charming songs which the children performed with full mastery under the supervision of the directress, Miss Ramza Karaoglan.

Worthy of mention is that this orphanage was founded by Mrs. Hortense Tamer, who still watches over it with her care and her tenderness, makes up its financial deficit, and lavishes compassion on its children, to make good to them their loss of parental tenderness. It was therefore a pleasant surprise when the First Lady of Lebanon decorated Mrs. Hortense Tamer with the Lebanese Order of Merit, in recognition of her good works and her humanitarian services to unfortunate childhood.

★ In the middle of the current month, Mrs. Kabir, adviser to the women students of the American University of Beirut, invited a select group of the University's women graduates to represent the various women's professions, in order to exchange views on the professional conference which the University's women graduates will hold at the beginning of next May.

At the luncheon were Doctors Jamal Karam Harfush, Zahia Kaddoura, and Salwa Nassar, and Mesdames Widad Maqdisi Cortas and Edvick Jureidini Shayboub. The discussion turned upon the date of the conference, upon which institutions would be invited to take part in it, and finally upon who would be charged with speaking on each profession.

★ It is expected that Dr. Doria Shafik, president of the Bint al-Nil Union and editor-in-chief of the magazine Bint al-Nil, will visit Beirut at the beginning of March, on her way to Aleppo to take part in the series of lectures organized by Dar al-Kutub for the Arab men of letters.

★ It is a bewitching smile with which the child Abdul-Karim Shuqair greets us at the opening of his second year!
This beautiful little one is the only child of Mr. Rashid Shuqair, and on the occasion of the first anniversary of his birth his father gave for him a charming party that gathered a bouquet of family and friends.

So "The Woman's Voice" wishes the innocent childhood in little Abdul-Karim's eyes to become a blooming youth that conquers hearts!, and that this sweet anniversary may return to him scores of times, while he goes clothed in health and easy living in the shade of his two gracious parents.

The Lebanese Red Cross held its annual general meeting at the Presidential Palace on Saturday, February 21, at four in the afternoon, in the presence of His Excellency the President of the Republic and his wife, the President of the Council of Ministers, the president of the Lebanese Red Cross, the members of the central committee, and the delegates of the regional branches; there were also present some men of the diplomatic corps, deputies, senior officers of the army and the gendarmerie, and a number of leading personalities and distinguished families.

The Marquise de Freige opened the meeting with a word in which she welcomed His Excellency the President of the Republic and thanked him for the material and moral assistance which he, with his honored government, renders to the institution; she likewise thanked the physicians and those persons who sacrifice their time to take part in the work of this humanitarian institution. Then Mrs. Najla Saab, the secretary, spoke of the work of the Red Cross and its humanitarian aims.

After the payment of subscriptions the election of the new members took place, and the majority went to the ladies: the wife of Alfred Kettaneh, the wife of Fernand Arsanios, the wife of Amin Beyhum, the wife of Dr. Joseph Ashkar, the wife of Tawfiq Majdalani, the wife of Edouard Noun, the wife of Simon Sehnaoui, and the wife of Ashraf al-Ahdab; and the ninth member went to a run-off ballot.