Geoffrey G. Attard  

 

The definition of the term "fostering" as provided by an Oxford dictionary is "to bring up a child that is not one's own by birth". This is among other things, what comes first to mind when one reads Casey Watson's book The boy no one loved, which has now been translated into the Maltese language by Irma. The book in English was published in 2011 while its Maltese equivalent has now reached the bookshelves in the main bookshops of Malta and Gozo.

Ms Watson is a specialist foster carer who has worked in this field for six years after giving up her position as a behaviour manager for a local school. During this time she has welcomed 14 difficult to place children into her home. She has worked with profoundly damaged children, seeing each child through a specific behavioural modification programme, at the end of which they will hopefully be in the position to be returned either back to their family or into mainstream foster care. Casey combines fostering with writing, usually late at night when the rest of the family is sleeping. Being aware of this background, the reader of Irma's translation of one of Casey Watson's most renowned books will appreciate more what he is reading since he/she would know that Casey is writing from experience.

It-tifel li hadd ma habb narrates the story of five-year-old Justin whose siblings are two brothers, two and three years old respectively. Their mother, a heroin-addict, had left them hungry and alone, while she becomes drug addicted. On the same day of this negative experience of his mother, after trying to burn down the family home, Justin is taken into care. Six years on, after various failed placements, Justin arrives at Casey's home. Casey and her husband Mike are specialist foster carers. They practise a new style of foster care that focuses on modifying the behaviour of profoundly damaged children. They are Justin's last hope and it quickly becomes clear that they are facing a big challenge. What follows is the story narrated in this book which makes for interesting reading. Professor Oliver Friggieri had positive remarks on the book; he asserted that the Maltese style used in the translation is clear and next to impeccable. When in need of the right wording, Irma does not hesitate to leave the word in its English original but gives it a Maltese rendering to it. I believe she does this to remain as faithful as possible to the original since no one would disagree that a translator's task is not one of the easiest. 

Through the translation of Casey's book from English into Maltese, Irma has rendered the book readable in the local language thus addressing a wider reading public and even embracing those people who may not have had the chance to learn how to read English when they were younger.

 

Casey Watson, 'It-tifel li ħadd ma ħabb' (Malta; 2014), translated into Maltese by Irma