In 1939, Aref Al Nakadi launched an appeal to the Druze in both Lebanon and Syria and to those who emigrated to the four corners of the world, inviting them to contribute financially to establish an orphanage. After a small period of time, a small house in Beirut was rented and furnished to shelter a small number of children and a lady superintendent; the orphanage started the actual operation of welcoming orphans in the academic year of 1940-1941.

The great development of the first five years deeply influenced the benefactors and the directory of Beit Al-Yateem (home of the orphans). Everybody cooperated to support this project so that they could offer its humanitarian services such as sheltering, clothing and teaching the children. The enthusiasm in collecting donations and sending them to Aref Al-Nakadi was a sign of the good will of the donors and their deep need to help the orphanage. From the start, Aref Al-Nakadi wanted the participation of the largest number of benefactors even by donating one Lebanese pound so that all the social classes would contribute to the establishment of this orphanage.

With the increase in the number of orphans and donations, development became a must, so Beit Al-Yateem moved to Abey in the year 1955 where many buildings were rented and a piece of land was bought so that a new building would be built.

The work on this project started in the year 1963 after Aref Al- Nakadi had signed a contract with the Social Welfare Service which offered one third of the funds and he took responsibility for providing the remaining two thirds by putting up his own private properties as collateral for the bank loan. The inauguration of the orphanage in Abey was in 1968.

A succession of developments marked this era and the late Nakadi once said: “We begin our year by thanking God and the donors, especially the emigrants who recognized the importance of financial support to help establish these buildings, and as a result, keeping a memory in the minds of our fellow citizens without the need to have to ask for favors.”

After constructing the main building, we cite some of the accomplishments related to this era:

• Equipping the main building with all necessary tools for sheltering, clothing and teaching the students.
• Buying a nearby building and developing the first part of it so that it can be ready for housing and educating the children.
• Constructing an office building
• Prefacing the establishment of a technical school by buying a plot of land to be built on.

The late Aref Al-Nakadi kept on establishing, renewing and developing until his death on March 23rd, 1975 and all that was done through the benefactors who cooperated with him and are still contributing in the Druze Orphanage development especially the expatriates who despite having emigrated from Lebanon, continued to support their homeland.