An Indian Leader Visits Lebanon

"I greatly admire the order and arrangement that are evident in all the departments, from the sleeping quarters to the dining rooms, the study rooms, and the kitchen. Even in Europe I have not seen better than what I see here among you."

So declared the great Indian leader Mrs. Mithan Lam to her companions, Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, president of the General Arab Women's Union, and Mrs. Nazik Sarkis, the secretary, in the course of a visit the gracious guest paid to the Islamic Orphanage, whose departments she inspected. She was astonished at the progress and refinement of this institution, which rightly keeps pace with the best institutions of its kind in Europe!!

Mrs. Lam enjoys great renown in her country — a professor of law from London who has practiced the profession in Bombay since 1924. The government took note of her distinction in this field and in 1934 chose her for the committee that revised the laws of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. She is also the first Indian woman to be appointed by the government as governor of the city of Bombay, in 1947.

Mrs. Lam is widely active in women's conferences and organizations; she is either president or vice-president of most of them, such is the confidence that the women of India and its government place in her abilities and her sincerity.

Mrs. Lam regretted that her visit to Lebanon happened to fall during the summer, when it is impossible to meet personally, in any organized fashion, the women who lead the women's movement.

Besides the Islamic Orphanage, she visited the homes and dispensaries of "Child Care," which are headed by Mrs. Ni'mat Qaranful, and she praised the women engaged in this noble work.

She also visited the Cedars of the Lord, the temples of Baalbek, and the palace of Beiteddine, and expressed her utmost admiration for everything she saw...

Shortly before her departure, she whispered in the ear of Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura: "There must be a second visit to your beautiful Lebanon... and in the company of my husband!!"