The 79-year old Pope Francis has a very inspiring style of speaking in down-to-earth terms. Last Sunday, he told thousands of young people that “if they stop dreaming, they are already old.” In spite of his own old age, he never stops surprising millions in making them share his own dreams. It proves that dreaming for a better life is not exclusive to youth, considering that like the aged pontiff, many older people feel the urge to move ahead with their plans of being active and not merely surviving.
Dreams for young and old
Many of the older people I meet every day narrate their own stories of how they believed in their dreams and moved on with their efforts to make them happen. “The bigger the challenge, the harder you work,” they keep telling me, since – in their own words – “after all, the future belongs to those who dream and act!” Believing in the beauty of our dreams and aspirations helps us bring them to reality, no matter how arduous they can be. This I can vouch for each time I meet people with disabilities who take life’s challenges in their stride to achieve their goals. It is so inspiring how they succeed in turning a disability into an ability to garner life opportunities which others may not even notice or simply disregard.
I have always been intrigued by Edgar Allan Poe’s line in his Eleonora: “They who dream by day are cognisant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” In my line of work with the elderly and those with a disability, the idea is further explained by John Lennon’s immortal stanza “You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.” As if to anticipate what Pope Francis had to say last Sunday, the Rolling Stones had decades ago affirmed: “Lose your dreams, and you will lose your mind.”
European intergenerational day
The whole concept is very well linked to an event I gladly presided over on Friday to celebrate the European Intergenerational Day. Quite a longish word that is better explained in simple terms – encouraging the various forms of relationships between young and old that once came naturally. It is fast becoming the new buzzword in the line of caring for both the very young and the very old, with activities that join young children with elderly people – who might otherwise be cooped up in retirement homes or living alone. It is all based on the fact that children dream of growing up while older people dream of and yearn to staying active.
The day was marked with the inauguration of yet another garden within the St Vincent de Paule long-term care facility, that has seen full cooperation between my Parliamentary Secretariat, the facility’s management and staff, EkoSkola, Nature Trust and Ġonna Dinja Waħda, coordinated by Dr Brian Farrugia. Young students came along from various schools to celebrate their constant efforts to enhance the environment with fresh ideas that they want to share with the older generation. The event was a further expression of active ageing, supported by child care and education within a holistic reality of social inclusion.
The new intergenerational garden links the two groups, at extremes of the ageing spectrum, holding hands for good and active citizenship. The activity brought together educators, health care workers, older adults, young students and the community in general to explore and promote intergenerational learning opportunities, while engaging in rich and sustainable connections between generations. After last year’s botanic garden at the same facility, the two age groups learned to relate better. Friday’s event proved that together they can improve the energy and psychological outlook of elderly people as well as the social skills and confidence of young students.
Young and old, holding hands
Such events keep reminding me of the positive outcome when such relationships between young and old are established. It used to come so naturally when families where closely knit in village life. In recent decades, the gap between generations has widened, with families becoming more spread out and elderly people resorting to retirement communities. Although care for the elderly remains a moral and legal duty for family members, what my Parliamentary Secretariat provides is in the form of support or supplement to those duties. The intergenerational mix helps the elderly to feel part of children’s lives and consequently increase their sense of purpose that can lead to a healthier and active old age.
These same thoughts about this outlook on life opportunities I could read the previous day when I visited the Little Sisters of the Poor at their community home in Balzan. In spite of the very old age many of the nuns have reached, they all feel proud of what they have achieved so far and aspire to stay active in their own religious and social paths. I admired the hospitality and enthusiasm with which they conversed with me, hammering further my belief that older people can really be inspiring with their energy to be a full part of society for as long as their health allows them.
I can witness the fact also when visiting what we previously knew as day-care centres, which we are fast transforming into learning centres. The one in Xewkija – barely a year old, is a case in point, with older people enthusiastically participating in all events and requesting more training courses.
Maria Pia – the young Gozitan gold-medalist
Writing about all this in the elderly sector, I still confirm my full commitment to the rights of people with disabilities. It was in fact a pleasure this week to welcome at my office in Valletta the Special Olympics team, along with Maria Pia – the first Gozitan girl who won gold medals recently in an international event held in Cyprus. Within only a few months, Special Olympics Gozo have fully established themselves at the Għajnsielem Learning Hub and are fast proving their effort to assess and train potential athletes from among young people with disabilities.
The disability sector comes to mind particularly today – Workers’ Day, also commonly known as May Day. The past week has seen yet another leap forward in securing the necessary and rightful space for these people to lead an independent life through employment. At the signing of the agreement reached to put into practice our renewal of a 50-year-old legislation, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat made it clear that “this was an unequivocal message that social justice is the other side of the coin of economic development. The best way of ensuring independence and equality is to ensure financial independence and that inclusion cannot stop at school, it has to continue at the workplace!”
Workers’ Day – proud and determined
Over the past three years, we have been incessantly working to move from a culture of charity to a culture of rights. As a matter of fact, it is really encouraging to note the incredible increase of people with disability employed in the past year. This is further proof of the Labour government’s commitment to champion the rights of people with disability.
They can today join thousands of workers and their families, while celebrating Workers’ Day, in the knowledge that their right for employment is guaranteed as are all other rights they deserve within the fair society we are building for Malta and Gozo. Many might have dreamt of this opportunity for many years, but can today understand better John Lennon’s line: “I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.” That is precisely our aim for the coming two years and beyond – one society and a fair one!