The Women's Branch of the Iraqi Red Crescent

I was invited to visit this noble institution, of whose services and of the activity of whose members I had heard much, so I accepted the invitation with thanks. It was a Monday morning — the day on which the members gather for work. I made the acquaintance of many of them, and they are truly an elite among the ladies of refined Iraqi society. The president, Mrs. Karima al-Haydari, received me with her famous graciousness, and I saw many of the ladies whom good fortune had granted me to know before — among them the energetic Mrs. Samia

the members of the diplomatic corps "the Ambassadress," and they testified of her that she had been the best of diplomatic secretaries to her husband!

My eye was caught by the beautiful, finely made children's garments, displayed with artistic taste, and by the lovely handwork of every kind — and no wonder, for Miss Suad al-Umari, the vice-president, is a woman of refined taste and a first-rate artist. I saw her bent over the cutting table, cutting out garments with precision and skill, and I saw the ladies and young ladies bent over the work.

My interest moved me to put a few questions:
The president said: the administrative committee meets every Monday and Saturday, and the rest of the members meet every Monday; as for the members, they number three hundred ladies and young ladies. The branch holds three charity bazaars a year; and this house is, besides, a permanent charity bazaar in which the ladies find whatever they wish in garments for their children and handwork for the adornment of their homes.

I asked: in what ways is the money spent?
The president smiled her sweet smile and asked Miss Maliha Makkiyya, the social worker assigned by the Ministry of Social Affairs, to show me the sections of the building.

We went up to the orphanage on the upper floor, and found ourselves in spacious rooms — the sleeping rooms, the beds made up in the best of order. Adjoining the sleeping rooms are the roomy bathrooms, the many washstands, and the lockers, each bearing a pupil's number; likewise the towels and toothbrushes hang each at its pupil's number. And we went down to the dining room: the tables seat four, and before each chair is a drawer in which the pupil keeps her own eating utensils in perfect order.

The orphanage, over which the ladies of the Red Crescent preside, houses 43 orphan girls, who learn reading, writing, arithmetic, the English language, sewing, various kinds of handwork, and home economics, and in their instruction they follow the curriculum of the Ministry of Education. The teaching is done by the Misses Maliha Makkiyya and Hadiyya al-Shabibi, two social workers from the staff of the Ministry of Social Affairs, and by two teachers from the Ministry of Education; volunteers from among the members also take part in the teaching.

A girl remains until the age of eighteen, after which she has the choice of staying in the orphanage, working at sewing or handwork for a monthly wage, or returning to her family. And those gifted ones who pass the ministerial examination enter the government schools.

The president told me that their annual expenditure is five thousand Iraqi dinars: a hundred dinars come to them as a donation from the men's branch of the Red Crescent, and the rest from subscriptions, donations, the charity bazaars, and special entertainments. And I was filled with admiration for the energy, the zeal, and the self-sacrifice of this elite of refined ladies who labor in silence for the advancement of the girl of today, who is the mother of tomorrow. They are the flowers of society, which their noble qualities perfume as the roses perfume the garden of the club of the Women's Branch of the Red Crescent, refreshing hearts and reviving souls. May God bless the ladies and young ladies of this noble institution, and keep them ever active workers in the field of Iraq — the Arab homeland — until they attain the goal they seek.