BACK FROM GENEVA

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 89, 9 January 1935, Page 5

BACK FROM GENEVA

Y.W.C.A. National Secretary WORLD CONFERENCE Miss Jean Stevenson, national secretary of the Y.W.C.A. in New Zealand, returned this week by the Monowai from a most interesting six months abroad. She spent five weeks in England and live on the Continent, and stayed a while at Sydney on the way home. Miss Stevenson went as one of the New Zealand delegates to the Y.W.C.A. World Conference at Geneva. The Dominion was also represented by Mrs. Broadstreet and Mrs. Cornes, Auckland ; and Miss Jean Begg, well known in this country, represented India, as national secretary of the association there.

The conference, Miss Stevenson told a “Dominion” reporter yesterday, was preceded by a 10 days’ international study course, which was divide' 1 into English and French speaking classes under special tutors. Two subjects were taken, the first, “Christian approach to economic problems,” the second “Approach to modern Christian progress,” There were 120 students from 29 different countries, and the interest of such a meeting was naturally absorbing. The council meeting took place in La Grande Boissiere, an international school at Geneva, situated in several acres of beautiful grounds .in ex-

quisite surroundings. “In this gathering,” said Miss Stevenson, “among people of every nationality, met together with the same strong foundation purpose of fostering world peace, the sense of a spiritual unity was strongly apparent. The depth of the impression made by that atmosphere was very remarkable. “Among the notable people present were Madame Garzonzi, national president of the association in Egypt, a noted woman lawyer from Cairo; Princess Sulkowska, national president of Hungary; Mrs. Chamberlain and Mrs. Cushman, national president and first vice-president from the United States; Mrs. Arthur Grenfell, national president of Great Britain; Lady Proctor, chairman of the overseas committee of Great Britain; and Mrs. Reigers- - berg-Versluys, national president of the Y.W.C.A. Federation in Holland. “A notable discussion arose out of 1 the letter from Malaya asking that 1 some form of regional grouping be 1 made in order to give more attention •' to the countries of the Far East and to link them more closely with the 1 world movement. In this discussion < Miss Gertrude Owen, of Malaya, for- 1 merly general secretary in Christ- i church, was much in evidence. She 1 made the council realise that it was t not further for European delegates to 1 come to Asia than for people from the

Far East to come to Europe, and that it was not only important to have delegates from the East, but to have the discussions in an Eastern atmosphere from time to time so that there might be a proper balance in thinking. I think she made many of the Europeans realise how little they bad been thinking in international terms, and how little consideration they had been giving to what the Eastern peoples could contribute to our thinking. ‘And,’ said little Miss Ku,an, from China, ‘even if our experience is not very long or very extensive we would like to share it with other countries.’ ” Miss Stevenson visited Y.W.C.A. branches in Colombo, Cairo, France, Italy, Belgium, and Holland, besides 20 centres in England and Scotland. In Holland she spent a very interesthig day driving round that lovely country with Miss van Asch van Wyck, the international president, who visited New Zealand in 1933. The association there has a strong country movement, of yvhich there are 122,000 members. “My reason for wishing to go there was because of their particularly outstanding delegation to the conference,” Miss Stevens said, and she was much impressed by the line type of girl the Y.W.C.A. included in its membership.

Before the conference began Miss Stevenson was at several gatherings of women delegates to the League of Nations Council, which opened while she was at Geneva. One was a lunch given by the Disarmament Committee, presided over by Lady Aberdeen, at which Mrs. Corbert Ashby made a wonderful speech. At a reception given by the women’s organisations of Geneva to women delegates of different countries only’ thosp who had come for the first time were asked to speak, as the number was so great. 'The speeches that particularly impressed Miss Stevenson were those by a Chinese delegate and by Miss Couchman. Melbourne. England and Scotland were at their loveliest, stage of autumn, and the New Zealander thoroughly enjoyed her touring, and left before the weather broke into winter.