The leader [Saadeh] decided to return to Lebanon. We [himself, his wife and two daughters] were still living in the Tukoman region in Argentina. He wrote to officials in Lebanon about his desire to return before the parliamentary elections. All this was to no avail. So he decided to do things himself. From Buenos Aires he traveled to Brazil, where, with the help of some friends he was able to obtain a return visa to Lebanon. He first traveled to Cairo where he was met by Naameh Tabit, Ma'mun Elias, Asad al Ashqar and probably others from the party. He spent several days in Cairo. This is what I learned from the leader when I joined him seven months later.
The leader started thinking of returning to the motherland in 1946. The war was over. He had started writing about this in “Ibr al Hudud” [Through the Borders]. He was aware that his were not accepted as he wanted letters by officials in Lebanon. He had already established relations with party chapters in Northern America and Africa. He used to receive copies of party publications in Tukoman. He was surprised at the political, ideological, and even executive mistakes that he saw in these publications. All these made him more eager to return to Lebanon and take care of the issues himself.
This letter writing campaign took several months. Finally, a day was decided for the return. We had to sell our living quarters. The place belonged to an elderly Argentinean, who wanted to retire. The leader was able to negotiate with him in such a way that we were able to get back our initial investment plus some capital for our travel needs from him. The elderly Argentinean was an honest man.
However, a very damning event happened before we left Tukoman. We were busy boxing the furniture to send them in wooden crates to Buenos Aires. Several locals were helping us. I was upstairs putting beddings into a crate, while the maid was playing with [my daughter] Elisar who was two years old at the time. I did not notice how [my other daughter] Safiyya, ran to me crying “Mama, Mama,” only to tell me that “Elisar was hit by a car and was dead.” I ran out and saw Elisar in a corner with her head inside her arms. No one was trying to approach her. It was a crucial moment for me to carry my daughter in that situation, with her clothes covered in blood as if I was taking her to her burial place. Our happiness turned into sadness. The leader was at the corner of the street with some party members. Naaman Daw was a guest with us from San Juan. They all ran toward me. Some tried to call an ambulance, while others tried to find a doctor. It was at this moment that the driver of the car that hit Elisar came to us. He was an elderly person. We used his car to take my daughter to the hospital.
Elisar was lifeless on our way to the hospital. We were told to take her to the children's section and have her under constant observation. They feared that she had a concussion and perhaps even a broken bone on her skull. While we were transferring her we heard her voice. We were Hopeful once again. I was completely done. I had no power in my legs. I thought I was paralyzed. My friends helped me get up.
At the children's hospital a doctor treated Elisar and told us to leave her there until tomorrow. I refused to leave her there and took her back home. We called our doctor who also cautioned us of a possible of a skull concussion. He told us to take her to a hospital specializing in such cases. At ten that evening we transported Elisar to the new hospital. The leader was always beside her looking after her and always checking her pulse. I knew that in such cases blood spilling on the brain would affect the nervous system and the human pulse would slow. I sometimes thought that she was breathing and sometimes that she was dead. Next day I was really surprised when she called “Baba”. The leader jumped to her side and also took me in his arms in tears.
How did the accident take place? When the maid went to bring her some milk, Elisar walked to the front door where people were going out and coming in. Nobody noticed when she went outside. She went to Safiyya to play with her. Because she was too small the driver did not see her crossing the street. He hit her and continued driving until somebody shouted at him to stop.
