AI en Translation, Pages 76-100
Page 76
24
At all times
You can visit the House of Sympathy for the Blind - S - Kadoorie
To see for yourselves the progress of the work
Weaving and repairing bamboo chairs, weaving mats and hammocks, making brushes
of all kinds, including brushes for washing and sweeping houses, brushes for cleaning utensils
ceramics, clothes, shoes, horses and others, and making baskets
of all kinds, including wastepaper
baskets and laundry baskets
and fruit
Buy these products
For they are made with unparalleled perfection
Prices are affordable
Page 78
1944 Bulletin
House of Consolation for the Blind
⟦Silan Khedouri⟧
Baghdad
Al-Khairiyya Printing Press
Taht al-Takia Street, Baghdad No. 32 / 115
Page 79
Bulletin of the year 1944
The Blind Consolation Home
- in Baghdad -
The Home was established in 1926
Its building is at: Al-Tawrat Street 65 - 137 Baghdad
Telephone number - 5488
Page 80
Introduction
On the occasion of the expiration of the current committee's term at the end of 1944, its members present
to the members of the Home for the Blind (Silas Kadoorie) and the rest of the supporters
(both men and women) this brief bulletin which includes:
1 - The speeches delivered at the memorial ceremony for the founder of the Home for the Blind project,
the late Rachel Hayim, who passed away on Sunday 20-2-1944.
2 - A summary of the Home's accounts until the end of the year 1944.
Our committee has decided to print this bulletin to give an idea of the status of
this institution and to immortalize the memory of the dear departed founder of the project.
⟦Portrait of a woman in a frame⟧
The late Rachel Heim
Founder of the Home for the Consolation of the Blind project
Page 81
Speech of the Honorary Secretary
Professor Anwar Shaul, the Lawyer
Ladies and Gentlemen
How noble are the feelings that brought you to attend this celebration! You have come,
driven by the love of goodness, charitable deeds, and as mediators of good, to participate with us
in sanctifying a personality who dedicated her life, not for profit or fame, but for the good of humanity
and the happiness of its children. Indeed, you have come to listen to a wonderful, immortal story titled,
if it is correct to give it a title, the story of the blind whom a lady saved.
Yes, you will hear from me the story of the blind boys and girls and how
the ⟦celebrated one⟧ through her memorial, the late Mrs. Rachel, wife of the exemplary notable
Mr. Ibrahim Hayim Rabbi Isaac, saved them.
Ladies and Gentlemen
When Baghdad Radio broadcasts the concerts of the Blind Choir or the Art Brothers
Band, as this choir was named after completing its studies with us, we hear many
saying with admiration: Truly, it is poignant music, or how capable this choir is,
or how delightful these pieces are, among other expressions of praise
and admiration. But how many are those who know how this miracle was achieved
and how these blind people reached this point, some of whom in a past day had to
loiter in the streets begging for the charity of philanthropists while others wailed
Program of the Celebration
Held by the Society for the Welfare of the Blind in Baghdad
Under the patronage of His Eminence Rabbi Sassoon Khadduri
President of the Jewish Community in Baghdad
To memorialize the founder of the project, the virtuous lady
The late Rachel, wife of Ibrahim Hayyim Hakham Isaac
April 28, 1944
1 — Psalms
2 — Speech by Mr. Anwar Shaul, Lawyer
Honorary Secretary of the Welfare Home
3 — Speech by Mr. Murad Michael
Director of Shamash School
4 — Psalms
5 — Speech by Miss Victoria Al-Ammari
Director of the Welfare Home
6 — A word by Miss Marcelle Ya'qub, a student of the Welfare Home
7 — Psalms
8 — Word from the family of the deceased
9 — Religious prayer for mercy
Page 82
7
Mrs. (then Miss) Helen.
I was fortunate enough to be among the friends of the deceased's family - as I was connected
back then with her grandson Salim by school ties - so she asked me to be a helper to her
or to be one of her soldiers, as she used to say, so I accepted the task comfortably and performed
the work gratefully; I was the honorary secretary of her project since that time and I do not forget
here to mention specifically among those who worked with the Lady in the first establishment of her project, Brother
Mr. Ezra Hayya, the well-known painter, and Mr. Moise Sofaer, one of the community's
former teachers. As for the current committee of the home, it includes, as you know, a selection of the best ladies
and gentlemen.
She, may God have mercy on her, was the beating heart of the Institution for the Blind project, and she
started her work on a small scale and began knocking on doors, urging people, both gentlemen
and ladies, to help her institution. She was sometimes encouraged and sometimes discouraged
by others, and between this and that, she would thank the encourager for his deed and forgive
the discourager for his offense.
Months and years passed, and the signs of the deceased's project began to flourish
and bear fruit, and the financial situation of the institution became secure, but the deceased was asking for more;
she wanted a permanent home for her project so that it might achieve immortality, until she succeeded, with the help of
the virtuous Nahum family, in persuading the great philanthropist, the late Elly Kadoorie,
to donate the building of the current home, which was named after his father "Silas
Kadoorie".
6
in one of the corners of the Sheikh Ishaq Synagogue, while the rest had to be buried
alive in houses overshadowed by misery and wretchedness? How did these unfortunate people escape
from such miserable conditions and how did they achieve such genius?
To learn about all of this, we must go back to the year 1926, or even a year
or two before that date. At that time, Al-Aqida and her noble family were living
in a house near the Meir Elias Synagogue, and she noticed a blind child who
would sit opposite her house every morning and evening begging people. She used to hear him
saying: Have mercy on the blind, give charity to the sightless; or she would see people passing by this
poor blind boy, rushing to their business, neither paying attention to him nor responding to his call
except for a tiny number, perhaps one in a hundred, and if one gave charity, it was something trivial that neither relieved
pain nor satisfied hunger.
So her tender heart would ache and her noble soul would suffer, and she often thought about
the misery of these blind people and the hardship and exhaustion they were in, since fate, their
families, and the people were against them. Was it possible to save them from the lasting humiliation they were in?
And how would this rescue be?
And like light that emanates in the darkness of the night, a great idea shone upon her:
To establish a home for the consolation of the blind, thereby declaring war on the misfortunes of these
afflicted people and seeking to save them from what they were in. She began making preparations for that, and approached
a number of her acquaintances; she found encouragement from some as she found discouragement from others. At the forefront
of the encouragers were her virtuous husband, her righteous son Mr. Gurji, and her youngest daughter
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9
Speech by Mr. Murad Michael
Ladies and Gentlemen
The poet Heinrich Heine stood on the seashore on a cold, stormy day.
He began to contemplate the waves breaking on the rocks, then raised his eyes towards the sky
and found it hidden by thick clouds. Then he looked around him and found the coast empty
of living beings. A great fear overcame him, and he felt his own insignificance before the authority of nature,
the conqueror, so he knelt in prayer, saying:
O power before which the power of kings, sultans, tyrants, and despots dwindles,
O eternal power in whose hands is the fate of every being and to whom is the return, O you who carried
to her supreme kingdom the prophets and the righteous, tell me, for I am ignorant, and guide me,
for I am confused. Why am I here? Why do I live? What is the purpose of my existence? My head is heavy
with confusion, so reveal to me the clouds of doubt!
I see the human processions troubling existence; the Pharaohs, the Khosrows, and the Caesars
spread their control everywhere and rule over the necks of the servants, then their mention is folded away
and they become forgotten. And the prophets, the righteous, and the scholars offer their fruits and shed
their blood and suffer and endure horrors, and those far and near may mock them,
and they may succeed in their endeavors or they may fail, then the oppressive time shrouds them
and deposits them in the museum of the past. Why are we like this? Then our poet stood waiting
8
As I stand today to eulogize the virtuous lady who, in her life, garnered all
admiration, appreciation, and respect, I invite you, ladies and gentlemen, to visit the Home
at any time you wish, to see with your own eyes and touch with your own hands what the work of that
lady produced in the field of great humanitarian deeds.
May God have mercy on her, she was the first lady to enter the field of public works that
aim for the good of humanity. She was a good role model, not only for the ladies and misses
who followed in her footsteps, but for many men and young people as well. She proved
to the public that a woman can work in the fields of righteousness and charity just like a man
and even more, and she proved that a person can work and have their work bear fruit without
there being any necessity for clamor and noise.
May God have mercy on her, even during the days of her incurable illness which lasted
the last three years of her life, she was tending to her institution, protecting it,
and urging on the determination to serve and advance it. I am confident that in her final hours
she was thinking of these blind people whom she had sympathized with for long years, and I
am confident that she closed her eyes peacefully, knowing that there are hundreds of men
and women who have drawn from her the compassion for these afflicted people and will continue
to support the Home with all generosity and liberality.
Consolation to you, O blind ones, for the loss of your compassionate mother, for you have in the traces of her
humanitarian principles deeply rooted in souls that which provides aid and support.
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11
And he disturbs the peace with his noise, wanting and wanting and never satisfied; his life depends on what he wants.
And if a society is afflicted with a large number of his kind, then peace be upon that society.
Thus, we find people differing clearly in human society, and had
God not grasped a group of those who only benefit others or benefit and are benefited,
humanity would not have advanced a single step, and man would have remained primitive. Happy is that nation which
contains the likes of these, for they are its pillar, its support, and the bearers of its banner. Upon
their shoulders its civilization and urbanity are built, by their light it is guided, and by their opinion it is directed.
Ladies and Gentlemen: If we examine the great works built by humans,
we find them initially an idea that fermented in the mind of one person, then entered
the stage of implementation. The source of this idea is observation, and in most cases
and circumstances, obstacles arise before the realization of the idea, before which the weak-willed
might be defeated. But he whom God has endowed with determination and steadfastness stands before the obstacles smiling,
overcoming them with patience. ⟦And say⟧ thus regarding all projects and works.
The institution of the Home for the Blind was an idea wandering in the mind of the late noble lady,
Mrs. Rachel, the wife of Mr. Ibrahim Hayim Hakham Isaac; then she realized it despite
the difficulties she faced. It was small at first, then it progressed
thanks to the assistance generously provided by the sons of this community. Thereby she healed the wounds
of those afflicted by destiny in the most precious thing a human possesses, and lightened the heavy burden
of blindness with deeds that make one forget this calamity. This is a work for which every individual envies her, and this
10
the answer, but he received no response. The waves break upon the rocks and the poet
waits for the answer.
Yes, why are we here, and what is this wondrous system by which the worlds operate,
while the caravan of life moves on and we move with it.
For there are those who are laughing and optimistic, those who are weeping and grumbling, those who are calm and gentle as a lamb, and
those who are tyrannical and oppressive like beasts of prey; those who walk with their eyes fixed on space, dreaming
of a new world, and those who walk with their eyes fixed on the ground, searching like worms for
the trivial and transient. Thus the caravan carries us along, and we walk with it toward the unknown destiny,
toward the conclusion, toward the inevitable end.
If we were to hold ourselves strictly to account, we would find that we have taken from life and from
the efforts of its children more than we have given to it. For all the benefits of civilization that we enjoy were built
upon the shoulders of people who sacrificed their time, persevered, and sharpened their minds to provide
us with their efforts, content and of their own free will. People in this world differ
in terms of giving benefit and receiving benefit. Some of them are like an overflowing spring from which the far
and near drink, and this person finds his life depends on taking from it; thus he benefits others but does not benefit himself,
and in this alone lies his happiness. This is a hero among the world's heroes, counted in the ranks
of prophets and reformers. Some of them benefit others as much as they benefit themselves, and this is the way of
pious people whom we respect and honor, for they are not a burden on their society. And among
people are those who benefit themselves but do not benefit others, and these are the worst of people, disturbing the universe with their greed.
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13
Speech by the Director of the Home
Miss Victoria al-Maadi
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is the right of the assembly, in its commemoration of her, that we mention the results achieved by this
precious project, for which she exerted such arduous efforts to achieve
and gave such precious time, and for which she overcame obstacles and setbacks that did not dampen her
steady determination nor shake her faith in the sanctity of her project.
As the director of the home, I can place before you the following facts:
This home has so far undertaken the upbringing and education of ninety blind individuals, both male
and female. Twenty-five students have graduated so far, all of whom are working
and earning their living by the sweat of their brow, thanks to the industries they learned in the home.
Sixty-five of them are still present, distributed as follows:
Thirty children whose ages range between five years
and twelve. These children are learning to read and write using the method for the blind,
and they receive the principles of religion, general information, music, and training in manual
dexterity in preparation for receiving industrial lessons. Among them are sixteen girls, and these
receive lessons in knitting and embroidery that the boys also receive.
And thirty-five of them are being trained in basic industries such as manufacturing
12
its fruits and impacts, and by that, a golden page was recorded in the efforts of the righteous sons of this community
who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their comfort, time, health, and money for the sake of
the public interest, earning our admiration and appreciation. We pray for mercy upon her and remember her whenever
we see a blind person making their way through this life and living by the sweat of their brow instead of
being a burden on their family and society.
And the sons and daughters of this institution will remember her when they find themselves in
its embrace, which makes them forget their misfortunes and grants them the kindness of male and female benefactors that alleviates
the calamity of blindness and poverty from them.
So, to that pure soul who founded this institute, we send our greetings, asking
the Almighty to cover her with His vast mercy and grant her a place in His spacious gardens, and may she
be an example for those who follow. Peace.
Page 86
15
his hand, it is only to help others in need, not for the sake of begging and solicitation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
When you honored this ceremony, you passed by some exhibits produced by these
blind individuals, and they are products that are no less in quality, if not better, than any other products
of their kind. Were it not for the current war and the cessation of the arrival of some materials that
we need for manufacturing and the high cost of others, their products would have been on a large scale
fitting for the demand. We look forward with confidence to the coming days of peace when we can
provide the blind with tools and materials that help them understand their studies, perfect
their handiwork, and expand their production. Among the exhibits are large volumes which are
the books the blind learn from, written by their own hands and in their own special method, which is
a simple number that suffices for what they need for study at the present time. As for creating
a library for reading, that is a matter entrusted to the activity of the graduates who
can transcribe useful books and place them at the disposal of their brothers.
You see, ladies and gentlemen, that this project was not satisfied by a momentary sentiment
of compassion, but it is a project that arose in the mind of a reformist woman who felt pained by the state
of individuals living as parasites on fellow human beings, living in a state of misery, hardship,
humiliation, and submissiveness. She was pained by the state of society itself, that there was no one in it who felt
the duty to help these individuals overcome their natural deficiency and assist them
to become productive individuals, and by that, she set many examples.
14
Furniture made of bamboo and fiber, brush making of all kinds, weaving
bamboo chairs, swings made of ropes, mats, doorsteps, and
so on. They learn music to a degree that allows them to make it a
livelihood, whether by performing at parties or professionally teaching others. In addition to
that, they attend theoretical lessons, which are Arabic, arithmetic, general
knowledge, ethics, and religion. All of them exercise and play
entertaining games such as dominoes, chess, and the like.
In addition to that, the house provides them with clothing and feeds them once every day.
I can say that the house includes within its walls all the blind children, both
male and female, in Baghdad. Except for a small number of elderly blind people who
beg in the streets, the house can proudly announce that it has achieved
the ultimate goal for which the late founder struggled, saving young
blind people from such a painful fate and arming them with the tools of struggle that enable them
to fight the battle of life with other human beings. It has armed them with morals
and self-respect, then with general knowledge that brought them out of the stage of illiteracy, then
with the industry from which they can earn what they live on without
sacrificing their dignity.
After a few more years, no blind person will be found in the streets extending
his hand to ask for charity! Rather, we look forward to a time when if the blind man extends
Page 87
17
Speech by Miss Marcelle Yacoub
One of the students of the Home for Consoling the Blind
O time, why have you turned your back on us and spread over our faces a
thick veil of gloom and pain?.. We had an era in which we, the wretched, tasted the flavor of happiness
and the past folded it — oh, our sorrow — between its two frightening covers. We lived and grew up
within the corners of an institute founded by a noble, compassionate lady whose tender heart overflowed with sympathy for us.
She kept thinking of our plight days and nights until her kind heart and her
piercing thought guided her to a grand project with which she could rescue our souls wandering in loneliness and darkness.
It is death for a person to wander in a valley where there is no light and not a glimmer of light.
So she strove to save us from death, we the living dead.
She was a merciful mother to us, nursing us with the milk of affection.
Then she departed from this world in peace after a long, arduous struggle for the sake of goodness.
She departed, but she left in hearts a memory that days will not erase. May God have mercy on her after
her death as much as she showed mercy to humans in her life, for her heart was a spring of mercy
that never runs dry.
16
For example, what society can do to compensate for the deficiency that
afflicts its members. And an example of what perseverance, ambition, and sacrifices
can achieve for the good of the people.
And an example for women of what a woman can provide in services to her country if she arms herself
with virtue and shields herself with patience and diligence. She can offer many
good deeds to her society as long as she carries within her a spring of compassion and tenderness
that does not run out or dry up, and as long as she does not possess in the depths of her soul an instinct other than the instinct
of construction and building, not the instinct of destruction and sabotage.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In my name and on behalf of the male and female teachers of the Institution for the Blind, and on behalf of
its female and male students, I salute that noble spirit, the spirit of the virtuous woman who,
were it not for her and the wisdom of her mind, her patience, and her tenderness, this institution would not have existed.
I salute the woman who saved the dignity of humanity that was wallowing in the mud
and the streets! I salute the woman who raised the heads of her fellow women and showed them
the path they can follow to achieve more and more effective happiness for mankind.
So to her spirit, greetings from broken hearts she mended, dark minds she enlightened,
humiliated souls she saved, and idle hands she employed.
And upon her pure spirit be the broadest mercies.
Page 88
19
Account Summary for the Home of the Blind
for the year 1944
| Dinar | Fils
Revenue | |
Carried forward from the year 943 | |
Deposit with Khedouri Zilkha | 1192 , | 500
In the current account | 15 , | 657
| 1208 , | 157
Revenue for the year 944 | |
Subscriptions | 502 , | 014
Definitive donations | 257 , | 770
Proceeds from sale of manufactured goods | 87 , | 565
Commission from ceremonies | 8 , | 400
Interest on fixed deposit | 14 , | 250
Rent for the shop endowed to the Home | 25 , | -
| 894 , | 999
| 2103 , | 156
(Continuation of the account on the next page)
18
Speech of the deceased's family
Delivered by Mr. Shalom Darwish, Lawyer
Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the deceased's family, I offer my sincere thanks to the Dar Muwasat
Al-Umyan (Blind Care Home) Association for taking the trouble to organize this solemn ceremony, and I also thank the honorable
speakers for the noble sentiments and overflowing feelings they expressed toward the one being memorialized
and toward her family, which signify the generosity of soul and high character. To them
all, and to you, ladies and gentlemen, I raise the highest expressions of immense gratitude for your kindness
in honoring this ceremony with your presence.
If there is any consolation for the members of the family who suffered the loss of one of
their pillars, it is to see this beneficial project, so dear to the deceased, growing
and flourishing. And if there is a reward for the efforts exerted, it is to find
this institution, which the memorialized one cared for as she cared for her children
and family, and devoted to it the time and rest she devoted to them, consistently regarded
with the sympathy of male and female benefactors, covered by the aid of the generous and zealous
workers, materially and morally. This is all the deceased's family expects for the repose of the soul
of their deceased. Finally, I offer my thanks on their behalf to His Eminence Rabbi
Sassoon Khedouri, President of the Jewish Community in Baghdad, for including this ceremony
under his generous patronage. Peace.
Page 89
20
Expenses during the year 944
Salaries | 854,045
Food expenses | 42,759
Cost of tools for making products | 24,398
House and shop expenses | 13,992
Cost of musical instruments | 16,670
Miscellaneous expenses | 61,079
Interests | 1,614
Endowments (Telephone insurance) | 2,—
Students' clothing | 98,566
| 1115,123
Balance on 31-12-944
Trust with Khedhouri Zilkha | 906,750
In the current account | 68,366
With the committee clerk | 12,917
| 988,033
| 2103,156
Shimon Sofer
Honorary Treasurer
Page 91
Information and figures about
the Institute for the Blind
This home was established in 1926 through the efforts of the late Mrs. Rachel, wife of the notable Mr. Ibrahim Hayim Hakham Isaac.
The late Sir Elly Kadoorie donated for the construction of the current Muwasat Home in 1935.
The number of students in the home is currently 81, of whom 49 are boys and 32 are girls.
A private doctor supervises the students' health and conducts precise examinations at least twice a year, and the school has its own clinic.
The blind at the Muwasat Home learn music and industries specific to the blind, such as brush-making, chair weaving, and mats,
swings, ⟦illegible⟧, and bamboo furniture. The blind's industries have become famous for their precision and skill. They also learn the principles
of writing and reading using the (Braille) method. A number of reading books in Arabic have been transcribed for them in their special way
for reading and study.
The blind take lessons in religion, Arabic language, arithmetic, geography, health, and general knowledge. The final class has completed the curriculum
of primary education, and they also practice Swedish gymnastics and sports and sing anthems.
The blind are provided with one meal at noon every day.
So far, 20 students have graduated from the Muwasat Home and entered practical life. They now mostly earn their living by playing
with musical ensembles. Musicians among the graduates of the Muwasat Home are considered among the leading professional Iraqi musicians, and
the famous "Ikhwan al-Fann" band was formed by the home's graduates.
The home has another musical ensemble consisting of outstanding students, which is currently responsible for playing at weddings.
In their leisure time within the home, the blind entertain themselves by playing chess, checkers, dominoes, or reading.
The number of members in the Muwasat Society reached 400, and their subscriptions for the year 1946 amounted to 450 Dinars.
The total revenue from subscriptions, donations, and industry was 1159/319 Dinars for the year 1945, compared to 1493/342 Dinars
of expenses for the same year, meaning the deficit reached 334/023 Dinars.
The society had until 1940 a reserve amount of 1312/908 Dinars, and as a result of high prices and increased expenses during
the war years, this amount was spent to cover the resulting budget deficit year after year, leaving the society with no choice but to resort to
the generosity of the community members to support the blind in their hardship.
Page 92
An Appeal
From the Society for the Comfort of the Blind
Since the revenues of the Home for the Comfort of the Blind have diminished to a degree that threatens the closure of this home, which has saved
during the past twenty years dozens of blind people, saving them from begging and solicitation and returning them to a life of
honorable work. Therefore, the Home Committee appeals to all zealous and benevolent people with a request that they extend their generous hands
to help it overcome the severe financial distress that the Home is suffering from.
The information and figures that we list on the second page of this appeal give an idea of the services that
the Home for the Comfort of the Blind has provided and continues to provide for this afflicted group in particular and Iraqi society in general.
And this Committee is fully certain that all the honorable people who receive this appeal will take the initiative to register
themselves as subscribers, and it also hopes that its representatives who will go around to collect subscriptions will be met with the support that
this noble project deserves.
The Committee of the Home for the Comfort of the Blind
(The Home for the Comfort of the Blind welcomes visitors during study hours.)
Page 93
GIRL'S SEWING CH⟦...⟧RITABLE SOCIETY
BAGHDAD
ESTABLISHED
1929
Girls' Charitable Sewing Society
Baghdad
Established in 1929
Location: Below the Takia 101/133
Telephone number 3146
No.:
Date: 9 / 4 / 946
His Excellency, the Head of the Jewish Community, the Honorable Rabbi Sassoon Khidhouri
Greetings,
On the occasion of the engagement of your daughter, may God protect her, we take this happy opportunity to offer
to your Excellency our most sincere congratulations and best wishes, praying to the Almighty to make the life of your
protected daughter and her generous husband filled with happiness and joy, and crowned with wealth, glory, and children.
Thus, we conclude our words by praying for your Excellency's long life in service of this community, which
was and still is looking towards your Excellency with an eye full of confidence and smiling hope.
Please accept our most sincere regards.
⟦illegible⟧
Honorary President
Israel Nassim Hay
Page 94
8769
11 April 946
To the Honorable President of the Girls' Sewing Charitable Association
The Respected
After greetings
I have received with great joy your kind letter dated 4 / 9 / 946 and I
cannot but offer you my great thanks for your noble feelings and kind wishes
contained in your letter on the occasion of my daughter's marriage contract, praying
to the Almighty Creator to grant you success and guide your steps towards all that is for the good of the community.
In conclusion, please accept my respect.
⟦illegible⟧
4/11
Sincerely
Sassoon
Head of the Community
Save to the Association file
Page 95
27 April 945
His Excellency Mr. Hamdi al-Pachachi
The Honorable Prime Minister
Your Excellency,
In the year 1929, the honorable government allowed a group of ⟦Vesparee⟧
to establish an association named (The Girls' Charitable Sewing Association) which took upon
itself the upbringing and refinement of poor girls and training them in sewing and embroidery
as an honorable profession from which they can earn a living in their future lives. I am pleased to say that this
association has achieved an admirable success in its efforts, as quite a number
of seamstresses and embroiderers have graduated from it, and it now includes within its walls
nearly four hundred female students.
And it honors and pleases me to submit to Your Excellency, along with this letter of mine, the emblem of the
venerable Iraqi State embroidered on silk by the fingertips of the students of this charitable institute
as a gift to Your Excellency. If you would condescend to accept it, you would have granted those in charge of this
charitable association noble kindness and a great favor, and encouraged those poor female students
to master their beautiful and honorable craft.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest respect and much gratitude;
From the sincere
⟦illegible⟧
Head of the Community
Page 96
Department Copy
9147
8th December, 5
Mr. Campbell,
Manager,
Stephen Lynch & Co., Ltd.,
B A G H D A D.
Dear Sir,
You are no doubt aware that our Community, making every
endeavour to find honorable occupations for poor girls, has since
past years founded four charitable sewing institutions namely:-
(1) The Laura Kadoori Atelier,
(2) The Charitable Sewing Society for girls,
(3) The Charitable Atelier School,
(4) The Marriage Relief Society Atelier.
Where about 1600 poor young girls learn and practise Sewing, Embroidery
and similar handiworks. Owing to the encouragement and cooperation
extended to these institutions many a poor girl, deprived from adequate
direction and advice has found and followed the straight path and is
now honourably earning sufficiently for her upkeep and even that of her
family.
These institutions are now facing difficulties with regard
to obtaining sewing threads at reasonable prices, and in view of their
charitable aims I have deemed it opportune to approach you in the name
of these poor young girls to extend to them your help and make the
necessary arrangements so as to supply them directly with adequate
quantities of sewing threads, out of each consignment reaching you from
U.K. May I suggest that say ⟦a⟧ case be earmarked for each of these four
institutions out of every consignment?
Hoping that you will lend a sympathetic ear to this request
and looking forward to hear from you favourably, I am, Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
For authentication
For
President
PRESIDENT,
JEWISH COMMUNITY BAGHDAD.
Translation
Mr. Campbell, Manager of Stephen Lynch Co., Ltd.
Greetings
It is no secret to you that our community has been striving for several years to find
honorable work for poor girls and has opened four sewing and embroidery institutions. Due to the help and encouragement
encountered by these institutions, many poor girls deprived of
proper guidance and direction have been able to find and follow the straight path, and they are now earning their livelihood
and that of their families. These institutions are now facing many difficulties in
order to obtain threads at appropriate prices, and in view of their humanitarian goals, I have seen
it appropriate to request you to allocate half a box of threads from every shipment that comes to you
from abroad for the benefit of these four institutions.
I am certain that you will appreciate this request of mine for its humanitarian importance, and we await your response
accepting the matter, and from you ⟦...⟧
Head of the Community
Page 97
STEPHEN LYNCH & CO LTD
Stephen Lynch & Company Limited
TELEPHONES:
DIRECTOR BAGHDAD 11
SHIPPING DEPT " 116
ENGINEERING " 42
INSURANCE
MERCANTILE MULHAK 2485
FORWARDING
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: "LYNCH"
CODES:
BENTLEY'S SECOND PHRASE.
BENTLEY'S COMPLETE PHRASE.
SCOTT'S TENTH EDITION.
THE STANDARD SHIPPING.
A.B.C. 5TH EDITION.
Baghdad, 12th December 1946.
His Excellency the President of the Jewish Community
MER/18/⟦113⟧
The President of the Jewish Community,
B A G H D A D
Dear Sirs,
With reference to your letter of the 10th instant
we regret we have no stocks of thread at the present.
Yours faithfully,
For STEPHEN LYNCH & CO. LTD.,
⟦M Campbell⟧
DIRECTOR.
"Translation"
President of the Jewish Community Baghdad
After greetings
Reference to your letter dated the 10th current
We regret that we do not have quantities of thread
at the present time
Faithfully
Mr. Campbell
Stephen Lynch & Company Limited
For filing with the papers
Orphanage Charity Society
Page 98
Charitable Sewing Association for Girls
Baghdad
Location: ⟦line⟧
Founded in 1929
Number:
Date: 24 / 12 / 46
Honorable President of the Administrative Board
of the Charitable Sewing Association for Girls, Respectfully
After greetings
Enclosed you will find my annual report on the association and its financial
condition. It gives me great pleasure for you to review the report and hold a session
to consider the proposals presented by the honorable
members
Please accept the assurance of my highest respect
⟦illegible⟧
Honorary Director
Copy to the honorable members
Archived
Charitable Sewing Association
Page 99
- Section One -
1- School Management
I had explained in my previous report dated 12/21/945 how the
management was established and how the responsibilities of the employees working in our association were defined. I have recently considered
changing the status of the school classes in a way that ensures their operation in the most perfect manner to fulfill
the purpose for which this institution was founded. Perhaps through this we can raise
its level to an excellent degree. I have consulted the headmistress and the teachers in this regard,
and after studying the subject from all its aspects, we decided on the change mentioned below after
the respected administrative board approved it in its third session held on
November 11, 1946.
Furthermore, from time to time, I monitor its progress accurately and carefully so as not to allow
any room for its progress to be hindered. I am confident that this change, after a short period, will
have a great impact on the course of the modern institution's system. It will certainly ensure the goal which
we intended for it. Thus, the system of the school classes has become as follows:
1- The Kawah Department, which contains:
a- A sewing class
b- First embroidery class - Excellent -
c- Second embroidery class - Training -
2- The Preparatory Department, which contains:
one class divided into two sections:
a- Preparatory sewing
b- Preparatory embroidery
The purpose of the existence of these two classes, as I noted above, is to train the students
seriously in a way that ensures their education certainly and makes them, after graduation,
among the number of students who are qualified to work in the Kawah department.
3- The Training Department
and it contains:
a- Introductory Class A
b- Introductory Class B
c- Introductory Class C
The system of this department is that the first half of the day is for study and the other half is for embroidery.
In this way, the school system has become sequential, ensuring that a student who joins
this track since her childhood starts in the Training Department, then the Preparatory, then
the Kawah, and after that she graduates from the school proficient in the crafts of sewing and embroidery
well, along with an average level of reading and writing at least.
Page 100
B - Education System
I have explained in my previous report all the education facilities in the association and I would like to mention
here some other works.
1 - Books and Stationery
At the beginning of the past year, we found that the poor female student cannot afford
to buy books from the markets due to her poverty, and thus we bought reading books
and distributed them to the students, as we also obtained paper and pens from the Directorate of Education
of Baghdad Province. We distributed part of it at cost price and the other part for free. Likewise the pens.
And the Israeli Schools Committee has sent us sixty reams of writing paper to distribute
at cost price to the female students.
2 - The Library
We have increased the number of books this year and made them in a way that ensures the needs of the students.
3 - The Weekly Bulletin
We have issued this year a weekly bulletin and set up a special board for it where
cultural articles are written by the students, and we have integrated into it a page for cultural competitions
where prizes are awarded to the winners.
Accordingly, literary courage has increased among the students, and the girl has become
able to express her feelings, sensations, and what goes on in her mind in this bulletin, and she has gained breadth
in writing the topics she desires.
- Financial Section -
Revenues from 10/5/45 until 10/24/946
Sewing Branch | 315 / 1401
Subscriptions and Donations | 545 / 190
Net profit of unmanufactured goods | 117 / 260
Net profit of exhibition sales | 827 / 289
Tailoring and suit sewing branch | 643 / 69
Net profit of yarn sales | 459 / 41
Lay Council Allocations | 000 / 225
Lay Council Allocations for the rent of the Tuwaig house | 000 / 300
Sale of unmanufactured goods | 249 / 154
Carried forward | 150 / 2832