LIFE OF SECLUSION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23420, 9 August 1939, Page 6

LIFE OF SECLUSION

ARAB WOMEN OF TUNISIA ADDRESS TO BUSINESS GIRLS Phases of life in Tunisia were described by Airs. J. Chadraba at the fortnightly business girls' luncheon, which was held yesterday at the Milne and Choyce Reception Hall. Air. E. AlcDonald introduced Airs. Chadraba, who spent nine years at Hamman-Lif, near Tunis. Airs. Chadraba said an uninteresting life was spent by the Arab women, who were very much behind the times. They were kept strictly -at, homo:' after their school days were over, and: always wore veils when out of doors, unlike the unveiled women of more progressive Tripoli. Special latticed sections were reserved for them in the theatres, where they could unveil and yet remain unseen. The women of the higher class were taught in their homes literature and French, which they spoke well, but the poorer women had nothing with which to _ break the monotony of their lives. The women of the Bedouin tribes, who. lived in brown tents in the desert, had more freedom, and did not use the veil. The houses of the Arabs were beautifully kept, and thejr clothes snowy white, although washed in cold water, Airs. Chadraba added. The women spent their time working exquisite embroidery and laces, and making carpets from wool. They also knitted thick woollen cloaks, with hoods which covered the face. These cloaks, which were very warm, were worn in the winter by both

sexes. The cost of living was loav, wages and taxes being exceedingly small, continued Airs. Chadraba. A washerwoman could be hired for sixpence a day. A wireless licence cost two shillings a year; the annual licence for a dog was sixpence, and was only collected if the dog happened to bo in evidence when the tax collector arrived. Her husband had paid seven shillings a year in income tax. In spite of this, Tunisia was not an altogether pleasant place in which to live, owing to the unhealthy- climate in the summer.