Damascus — Abla Khoury

I gazed long at the entrance before going in, and several feelings stirred within me; the most insistent of them called to me from my depths:

Go forward! For you stand before the treasure of the world, before the little house from which this beloved homeland of yours is formed.

I entered, neither hesitant nor timid, but with a look in my eye — the look of the examiner — and a question in my head — the question of the inquiring stranger. And I found myself in a room radiating deep faith: the faith of a man sure of his step, sure of what surrounds him, a believer in the lofty principle to which he has devoted himself and his repose; the faith of a father keeping watch over his sons, the pillars of the future.

"...I spent two full years in one of the hospitals of America, devoted to this branch of medical work, and afterward I traveled to England for half a year to finish what I had begun: specialization in the care of childhood and motherhood. I toured the whole of Europe examining its institutions with this aim in view, and at last here I am, among my own kin and my own people!"

Thus spoke to me the head of the Childhood and

Motherhood Welfare Institution and head of the training center in Syria, the young Dr. Ghassan al-Jallad — in his eyes the radiance of a victor, victor over disease and its scourges, and on his lips the smile of the great hope he sets upon this new institution...

I snatched a few moments from his constant work and his precious time — indeed, from the time of the women waiting before his room — to learn how the daily work proceeds. The answers came to me in quick succession, testifying to success in the work, to concentration in the system, and finally to a deep faith. And I believed at that hour that woman — that effective part in the life of society — had gathered every feeling in her soul and every tenderness in her heart to pour them into the breast of Dr. Ghassan al-Jallad...

And here I am, endeavoring to convey some of what I heard and saw, that I may reveal to the dear reader at least a part of this institution, which was officially founded a few years ago — no more than five — and which Dr. Ghassan al-Jallad has headed for only two years. It is now moving with firm, steady steps toward rapid progress, drawing its support from the Ministry of Health and from the two world organizations, the World Health Organization and UNICEF: the Ministry of Health supplies it with staff and equipment, and the two world organizations with women experts, foodstuffs, clothing, and medicines.

Three Women Doctors

I thought I would picture something of the activity of those who work there for my gracious reader, that he may realize that Syria is on the march, and that thanks to its working youth — and youth alone — it will shortly be able to hold its head high before all the peoples of the world; especially since at the main center — Damascus — there are three women doctors, one for dentistry, another for general examination, and a third for the chemical laboratory. After them come the licensed midwives, numbering more than fifteen, along with some of the health assistants and the women of the working staff. And here I must pass on to the nature of the work and its course: