The Child Care Society, whose president is Mrs. Nimat Qaranful, gave a splendid dinner party on the evening of March 14 last at the Hotel Bristol, under the patronage of the First Lady, Zalfa Chamoun.
Mrs. Riyad Hajjal, one of the members of the Child Care Society, welcomed those present. She was followed by Miss Firdaws al-Ma'moun, secretary of the Mouasat Society, who presented a summary of the society's works and the efforts it had made over eight years.
No sooner was the address ended than the sumptuous dinner was served; and in the meantime the First Lady, Mrs.
Zalfa, conferred a decoration of the rank of officer upon Mrs. Ramziyya Hajma al-Nsouli, in appreciation of her services, and a decoration of the rank of knight upon each of Dr. Hamdi al-Hajja, director of the Mouasat Hospital, and Dr. Abd al-Qadir al-Shammar, for
the efforts they had expended. Generosity showed itself in the giving, for the donations reached 17,000 lira.
During the party Mrs. al-Nsouli announced the annexation of the Mouasat Hospital to the Child and Mother Care Society, with all its equipment, together with the sum of 42,870 L.L.
Above: the table of honor, with the First Lady of Lebanon, then Premier Solh, then Mrs. Beyhum, then her husband Mr. Muhammad Ali Beyhum, then Mrs. Ramziyya al-Nsouli, then the president of the Child Care Society, Mrs. Nimat Qaranful.
Below: the First Lady of Lebanon presents the award; on her left Mrs. Ramziyya al-Nsouli, who was decorated with a high medal, and on her right Mrs. Nimat Qaranful, then Mrs. Beyhum.
Last week Beirut was visited by Dr. Sylvain Bouchereau, sent by the "Women's International League for Peace and Freedom" in Geneva to make contacts with responsible persons in Lebanon, especially women's circles, concerning what obstructs the causes of peace and freedom in this decisive region of the world.
Dr. Bouchereau is from Haiti, and enjoys a high culture acquired at the universities of France and America. She is a lawyer and works in a number of legal, women's, and press organizations. Her program in Lebanon was filled with serious interviews. Mrs. Anissa Najjar, president of the Village Welfare Society, invited her to her home and brought her together with a select company of the ladies of Lebanon active in various fields. Dr. Edma Abouchdid, president of the "Lebanese University Women," likewise invited her to meet the members of the board of directors and exchange views with them on the activity of university women in the various parts of the world. And Dr. Bouchereau declared flatly that "politics" is no business of university women!
The Village Welfare Society invited the Women's League society to visit it at one of its centers, al-Manasef, in the Chouf.
Mrs. Zalfa Rawda, head of the center, welcomed the guests and invited them to see an exhibition of the handwork and produce of the region. Then the center's teacher, Miss Alice Maalouf, came forward and presented the girls who had completed the
course in weaving. Then the president of the society, Mrs. Anissa Najjar, presented a cuckoo clock to the center in the name of Dr. Jamal Karam Harfush. The company was invited to a table laden with the delicious foods of the village. Afterward the company moved on to the village proper attached to the center — the church — where they saw the household management school.