Two men drove a vintage van all the way to Norway, in order to raise money for Qalb it-Tfal, to purchase a neo-natal heart analyser for Malta.

Miguel Pace and Michael Fenechdrove a 1971 Austin J4, nicknamed Austin, to raise money to purchase certain apparatus for the Neonatal Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital.

Speaking with The Malta Independent, Miguel said; “It took us eight days to arrive to Norway, and following a five-day stop over, we drove back home”. They travelled over 7,000km Miguel said.

A community of 600 people in Norway collected €2,000 while a small community in Italy also presented them with €500. Two different routes were taken going to and from Norway, spanning seven countries including Germany, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland and Austria.

“We spent almost every night in the van, except for two. One night we were hosted by an Italian family who helped us raise money and the other was spent with a friend of mine in Holland,” Miguel added.

“The whole trip was tiring and rough, but worth it. The heat really took its toll, reaching forty degrees in the van. We reached the amount we were aiming for to donate to Qalb it-tfal to purchase a neo-natal heart analyser,” he said.

The trip was not without hiccups, especially when driving a vintage car. On July 28, the duo was hosting an event to raise money up in Norway. “Austin suffered a leak in the clutch hydraulic system and after hours of trying to fix the problem prior to the event, we decided it could not be fixed on the day. All’ Seaside Custom’ (vintage car enthusiast club) members present came to offer a helping hand and decided that Austin should be at the event even if it had to be towed and pushed...after all it had been driven from Malta to Norway. The kids loved playing inside Austin. On a positive note the event was a success collecting over €1000”.

The van was fixed the next day. This wasn’t the sole issue with Austin as early on during the trip, Austin’s alternator broke, forcing Miguel and Michael to replace it then and there, putting them a few hours behind schedule.

Qalb it-Tfal aimed to reach €11,000 through all of its activities to purchase the machine, and its last event, held on 17 August called the ice-cream feast, succeeded. Further events will be organised by the charity to help children with social problems, Miguel added.

Through all the events, they collected €13,000, and the extra €2000 will be used to help children suffering from the aforementioned problems.

“Had we gone and not raised the required amount, then we wouldn’t feel as happy as we are now”.

The trip earned a certain amount of international publicity, with a newspaper in Norway, as well as one in Italy, having picked up on their journey and published articles about them and their mission, Miguel said.

The Qalb it-Tfal website can be found at www.qalbit-tfal.org.