A VISIT TO PALESTINE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 3, 25 March 1927, Page 4

A VISIT TO PALESTINE

MRS. NATHAN RETURNS SOME INTERESTING EXPERIENCES In connection with the extension of Plunket work, Mrs. David Nathan paid a visit to Palestine recently, and when approached by a SUN representative a few days ago she graciously gave a great deal of very interesting information about the Plunket work there. In 1921 there was commenced in Auckland a campaign to raise funds to enable a New Zealand centre to be started in Palestine. There was a generously-supported “Eastern Garden Fair,” followed in 1926 by an “In a Persian Garden Fair,” and these efforts, together with many contributions from other districts, made it possible for the work in Palestine to commence at once. A branch was opened in Jaffa in March, 1922, and shortly afterwards a second centre was opened in Telaviv. Ever since its inception the first New Zealand Plunket centre has been entirely maintained by New Zealand,

and New Zealand funds paid for the training and sending out from London of two Plunket nurses in 1922. The second Infant Welfare centre in Palestine was maintained for the first three years by New Zealand, but responsibility for it has now been taken over by Melbourne. While in Palestine, Mrs. Nathan attended the opening of the Sydney Infant Welfare centre. Thanks to the very widespread support that has been given the work of the movement in Australia and elsewhere, a dietetic depot on the lines of the KLaritane Home and Mothers’ Cottage combined will soon be opened. Each centre in Palestine has a head nurse, an assistant, and three voluntary helpers. The centres are very similar to those doing such wonderful work in New Zealand, the chief difference being that attached to each Palestinian branch is a child specialist who gives consultations daily, and a pre-natal doctor who attends the centre weekly. The results of the work have more than fulfilled expectations. Before it was commenced, child-life in Palestine was a very pitiable thing indeed, and the infantile death rate for the whole of the country was 33 per cent. It has now fallen to 24 per cent among the Arab children, 12 ner cent among Christian and Jewish children, and 2 per cent, among the children attending the centres. Of these, 5,000 children have attended the New Zealand Plunket centres from 1922 to 1926 and now that the Sydney centre is open it is hoped to deal with 1,800 children yearly. An amazing feature of the successful work being done for these children is the fact that they are all breast-fed and of children under six months of age, only 1 per cent, get any additional feeding whatever. The centres are quite undenominational, but so far have catered chieflv for Christian and Jewish children, the Arabs preferring to patronise their own centres which the Government is establishing in .various parts of the country, the Plunket doctors and nurses having lent them every possible assistance. An encouraging factor that Mrs Nathan noticed was that many other

countries are following the splendid lead set by New Zealand, and were establishing additional centres throughout the country. In the forefront of this work are America and France. Today, apart from the four centres maintained by New Zealand and Australia, there are 14 other Infant Welfare centres in different parts of Palestine. A Variety of Types. The women who attend the centres range from well-educated and cultured women, who seem to know every ’ism and ’ology and yet are quite ignorant of the essentials of mothercraft, to women of the primitive Persian and Arabian types, whose main idea of baby welfare appears to be that the greater the number of amulets the 'poor child is burdened with, the better the baby will be. One and all, though, are ever ready to assimilate knowledge; to some it comes easily, to others the most concrete methods of teaching have to be applied. It is generally found that the many new immigrants in Palestine ire the most apt pupils and the ones vho most faithfully carry out the intructions given them. Where genera:on after generation have lived in Palestine, considerable trouble is enjountered in breaking through their age-old prejudices and superstitions as to what should, and should not, be

done for the welfare of their children. While Mrs Nathan was at one of the centres she noticed one day a poor woman sitting miserably on the floor, and stealing breathlessly on tiptoe every few moments to look fearfully at her sleeping child in a box nearby. When she questioned the woman’s movements, she was told that the J nurse had insisted that the woman j must only feed her child at regular inI tervals, and not force food upon it all day long, as she and so many other misguided mothers persisted in doing. The mother had protested that if her child were not continually fed it must surely die, and when the nurse put it to sleep the poor thing scarcely dared peep at it, lest she should find it dead. It surely is a matter for thanksgiving that at last a number of modem Infant Welfare centres exists and that they can eventually combat the stupid prejudices and superstitions that for such long ages have been ruining the health of both mothers and children, and bring to the aid of every mother in Palestine the same sensible and hygienic help that mothers all through the world have found such an inestimable boon. “N.Z.’s Chief Product” A rather amusiijg illustration of how well known New Zealand is in connection with baby welfare in Palestine, was a little story Mrs Nathan gleefully told while chatting about her work. A little lad had been asked in school if he could name the chief product of New Zealand. “Course I can, teacher. It's babies,” was the rather astonishing reply. Future Plans A matter that naturally affords great pleasure to Mrs. Nathan and all the other large-hearted folk who give so lavishly of their time, service and money to the Plunket movement, is the fact that they now have in hand the money necessary soon to start building their own Plunket headquarters in Palestine. They plan to have a large two-storeyed building, the lower portion of which will be devoted to welfare work, while upstairs will be an excellent dietetic centre and rooms for the mothers and probationers. Part of the money necessary to the achievement of their objects was actually raised in Palestine. General Impressions

Questioned as to her general impressions of Palestine, Mrs. Nathan was warm in her praise of the wonderful improvements that have taken place there since she last visited it three years ago. Telaviv, where eight years ago there was not a single house, now is a splendid residential town that boasts a population of 35,000. It is a pretty place, situated on the seafront, and here are sent as many as possible of the mothers and children attending the Plunket centres, that

they may indulge in the health-giving sea and sun bathing that the place affords. Needless to say all the Plunket babies that Mrs. Nathan saw there were pictures of health and happiness, showing in their rosy little cheeks and sturdy bodies all that the welfare work was accomplishing for them. As Mrs. Nathan spent only a fortnight in Palestine, of necessity she had little time for mere sight-seeing, but the little time she had at her disposal was occupied in the most interesting manner, and she managed to visit numbers of wonderful places, where the very atmosphere is fragrant with all the mysterious and romantic histories of the past. Quaint places, that are to most of us but names seldom heard or only met with in Bible stories —she has seen them all. And all these places, with their rich associations with the lives of many wise and great and good men, exercise a keen fascination for Mrs. Nathan, who is eager to soon visit the East again. We came away filled with wonder that so dainty and frail-seeming a little lady as Mrs. Nathan could accomplish so vast an amount of work. And yet she is as enthusiastic and keen as though she were just about to begin her activities, instead of having done all in her power for the world’s babies for years.