Ta’ Marija restaurant (formerly known as The Whisper), run by Maria and Ben Muscat, has been around for as long as many of us can remember. In fact, on Sunday, it would have been open for 40 years and for this occasion, a celebration dinner is being held, the proceeds of which will go to Caritas.

It is for this reason that we are here, for what better place to interview someone like Mariella Balzan, who has the responsibility for so many Caritas programmes?

But first, here’s a bit of history of the restaurant.

The ever smiling and elegant Maria speaks proudly about this establishment, which changed its name in the late 80s. When it used to be The Whisper, it hosted some of Malta’s best-known bands and musicians, such as Bayzo, Willie Mangion, Il-Pusè – in fact, their pictures still adorn the walls.

“We have invited all of them back to celebrate with us,” Maria tells me. “This was the first restaurant in Mosta, originally it was just a bar. The James Bond film had just come out and The Whisper was one of the characters, so that is how we got the name. It became renowned for being a place for young lovers (post tan-namrati) because of the cubicles that gave them privacy. It was also a disco, and the original disco floor which can be elevated, is still here.”

At the time, the mostly British and American clientele wanted a steak house, but as tourism changed to include more visitors from the continent, there was a greater demand for local cuisine, and so Ta’ Marija was born. Twice a week they feature Maltese folklore evenings and there is the intention to publish the delicious traditional recipes as well.

Maria confirms that it was named after her, showing us the new logo: a portrait of herself as a young woman.

Maria and her husband (who also own Il Pescatore in St Paul’s Bay) are “semi-retiring”. The business is being gradually turned over to their son Ben, who has inherited his parents’ hospitality and charm.

As we take our seats, Mariella begins telling me about her job.

“I am the coordinator for the community (non-residential) services in Floriana which include Outreach, Harm Reduction, Family Services and the Children’s Project as well as the San Blas programme made up of the Residential programme, Semi-Residential, Re-Entry and After Care. I have been with Caritas for 16 years, starting out as a facilitator. I then managed various units, and am now an overall coordinator, so it was a gradual process. I initially joined Caritas because there was this opportunity to train in New York for six months which I found very exciting.”

When she got there, she found it was much more difficult than she expected: she had to live in a residential programme in the Bronx, one of the toughest neighbourhoods in New York.

“The drug abusers there are very different to those in Malta. First of all, a very large number of them were already suffering from HIV – and we are talking 17 years ago. They didn’t have the support of their families and the majority were homeless, living on the streets. The streets of New York are a bit tougher than Malta!”

Although most Maltese drug abusers still live at home, Mariella points out that the number of homeless is on the rise and Caritas is to open a shelter in October.

“I think what’s happening is that those who were on drugs ten years ago and are still drug users today have more problems. If someone was a drug abuser at 20 and still living at home, now they’re 30 or even 40 and have probably been kicked out of home. They tend to have a criminal record, their health and mental problems are more serious, and the overall situation gets worse. There are many problems related to drug addiction: you become alienated from your family, you turn to criminal activities, maybe you’ve spent some time in jail; you come out of jail and have a bad record, so finding a job is hard.”

She adds that the trend today is to have ‘poly drug users’, who combine, for example, a mixture of heroin, anti-depressants and Ecstasy, leading to mental illness. The other worrying factor is that the age group has become much younger. From an average age of 25 – 30 at San Blas, Mariella is now seeing 16 and 17-year-olds. They’re starting drugs at the age of 13, she says bluntly.

“At the age of 13 a child doesn’t say, ‘I’ve had enough’ and their thinking skills are very different. The new shelter is going to be for older users who have been using drugs over a long period of time.”

Despite the many administrative duties she has, hers is no desk job. She is as much ‘in the field’ as ever.

“We have 30 clients in Residential, another 15 in Semi-Residential and re-entry which is when they go back home but still keep in contact. We have about 40 clients in Harm Reduction, then another 35 in Outreach, which is where they first come. I like to know all the clients by name and be kept informed about what they’re doing. I enjoy going to a group every now and then because I love the therapeutic aspect of my job. I want them to know me so that I can maintain a line of communication. I’m always running around the different units, and my main aim is to create and improve our services according to their needs.”

Here she makes it a point to tell me about the dedicated staff and the great working environment at Caritas. It is clear that she is equally dedicated to this work that she loves so much.

Which makes it all the more surprising to learn that Mariella’s career couldn’t have started off in a more different direction.

At 19, she had the opportunity to be based in Saudi Arabia as a stewardess and also lived in London for nearly two years.

“I saw the world, really enjoyed myself and spent all my money”, she says wryly in her deep voice. “It was hard work but it was glamourous. I was also dealing with people, which is something I’ve always enjoyed.”

She describes herself at that age as being a rebel, always itching for adventure, unlike her brother who, at the time, was ‘the quiet one’. It turns out that her brother is Saviour Balzan.

“He’s changed a lot! I’m the pretty one, the more diplomatic one,” she says self-deprecatingly.

Mariella worked for a while as a courier with Thompson’s until she joined Caritas. Once again, she had drifted towards another people-oriented job, but this time it was much more than that.

“For me this job is very meaningful; it’s very hard to find something that would give me the same amount of satisfaction.”

We take a break from the

interview as the food arrives.

Our hosts had promised us a selection of Maltese starters: what they bring is such an abundance of food that we could have easily not ordered a main course. Plates keep emerging from the open-plan kitchen where Ben Senior is busily cooking to his heart’s content. Plates with dried tomatoes, bigilla, goats’ cheese, snails, octopus, tuna, Maltese sausage, fritters with anchovies and cod, pulpetti and Ben’s famous olives.

Mariella and I groan about there being “too much food” but keep nibbling at all the delicacies.

She can’t resist teasing me “I want your job!”

Well, it’s hard but someone’s gotta’ do it.

I like her dry sense of humour. “This is a picture of Mariella being a pig,” she quips to our photographer.

Turning back to her work, I ask about what I see as the two drug cultures in Malta. You have the ‘typical’ drug abuser who may or may not end up following a Caritas programme. Then you have the other sub-culture where taking drugs is considered ‘cool’ and ‘trendy’ and becomes part of the social recreation of that group.

“...Yes, and that is the largest number,” she agrees. “There are different groups: the ones that are young and experiment, grow up, and just get on with their lives. There are the ones that experiment and end up becoming dependent. Then there are the ones that experiment and spend the rest of their lives living ‘normally’, but they still dabble in drugs even at 40 or 50. The problem is that it is always dangerous. I say to people, ‘if you had to tell me experimenting is OK, I would ask you ‘would you give drugs to your child to experiment with?’” Then they tell me, ‘of course not!’”

As for taking drugs to be ‘trendy’, Mariella points out that no one ever starts taking drugs thinking they’re going to be a junkie or dependent or end up at San Blas.

“Take Ecstasy, for example. When you go to the parties today, just take a camera with you discreetly and you will have a movie to end all movies, I tell you. What’s going on exists, it’s there, and it’s a reality. The majority might not end up dependent, but a number of them are risking their lives; even if you just take drugs on the weekend, you’re still risking your life. The other problem is that when youngsters take ‘E’ they’re more interested in being promiscuous. It has become normalised and that is the danger of it. Like drinking and getting drunk.”

Despite all she sees every day, despite the heartbreak and the terrible stories of addiction and people’s lives spiralling out of control, Mariella remains optimistic that the drug problem in Malta can be contained.

“We’re such a small country that the problem can be addressed in a more effective way, although obviously there’s always room for improvement,” she says firmly.

Asked to outline the main problems, she lists adolescents who are in danger of harming themselves, becoming promiscuous and even criminals. There are women at San Blas who are pregnant, she says. This statement comes out so matter-of-factly that it takes a second to register. These are women whose children are likely to be born with a drug addiction. Another issue concerns those who take drugs and have mental problems: “Mount Carmel is no place for them, but at the moment there’s nowhere else and all these things cost money.”

On the plus hand, she has seen an enormous improvement in the attitude of the police, who are more aware of what drug addiction is.

Don’t you ever feel that it is an uphill struggle and that you’re not really getting anywhere?

She shakes her head, “No, I always feel that Caritas is really achieving good things, especially when I go abroad to visit other therapeutic communities such as in Cologne, Italy and other places in Europe. Every time I go to a place I realise that we’re really doing a good job and our success rate is good. Even if someone doesn’t reach the ideal level we would like them to, they still lead a better life. When you’re helping one person, you’re helping a whole family.

“Yes, there are people who leave the programme but we help them too with a Harm Reduction service that is really working. Some people might not be ready to be totally clean, but they want to be stable in their life and want to work. It’s about reorganising their lifestyle. It’s one thing when someone is involved in criminal acts, and another thing when someone is living a fairly ‘normal’ life. If I take someone off the streets and instead of spending the day doing criminal acts he is spending the day with us in Floriana, and

reducing his health hazards, then I am being successful.”

Having visited San Blas once, I remark that it seems to be quite a tough programme to follow, with strict rules and regulations.

“But that’s not why it’s tough, because you can get used to waking up at a certain time and having duties. It’s tough because they can no longer ‘escape’ by taking drugs. After a while, when they’re clean, the pain, the fears, the insecurities, all come up and they have to face themselves. In everyday life, people become workaholics or eat to escape from their feelings. People switch off in different ways. I don’t pity drug addicts but I empathise with them.”

Her empathy stems from her deep understanding of what leads someone to drugs. For her thesis Mariella carried out research on the residents – 300 people over a ten-year period.

“I found out that most of them have been abused, whether sexually, physically, emotionally or simply through neglect. I wanted to show that there is a link, that these people cannot deal with their feelings. That’s why we have to support them.”

Success stories for Mariella often happen during the annual graduation (which took place last Friday) when she sees former clients coming with their husbands, wives and kids.

“I see a family living a normal life, and for me, that is my satisfaction. When I see the children not being abused or neglected because their parents are no longer drug addicts. My satisfaction comes when I see them giving something back to society, because they become very special people. You never hear of the good things they do but we know about them. Many of them give back to San Blas or Outreach.”

It seems inappropriate that we are there, casually chatting over a meal about people’s lives. But our conversation is once again put on hold as Ben arrives with more food.

Mariella had ordered a steak Diane and I had the fillet. When they arrive (compete with a little stick to indicate that they have been cooked ‘medium’ as requested), we wonder how on earth we can eat them. In fact, we barely manage half a steak each.

“Please note I’m going to explode now,” she says into the tape recorder. Her laughter helps to lighten the atmosphere.

A year ago, Mariella became a mother for the first time. When she talks about her daughter, it is like she still cannot quite believe she has a baby.

“I miss her very much when I’m at work. Having a child has made me less self-centred; my priorities have changed completely.”

A typical day is quite long; it’s not exactly a nine to five job.

“Today I was at San Blas, then I went down to the summer residence for a meeting there. After here, I’m going to Outreach in Floriana, then I have some individual sessions with clients. Right now I’m working on a Children’s Project which is my ‘baby’. A lot of the San Blas residents have children so when they go home, they tend to get a shock because they suddenly realise they’re parents. It’s detrimental to the kids and to them. So we’re going to start bringing the kids on the weekends to live in special apartments on the premises where the clients can visit and interact with them, obviously under supervision.”

A person who seems to be bursting with ideas, she has other dreams, such as separating the male and female residents.

“I really think the women would benefit more, especially the ones who are pregnant or who have children. They have particular needs that we could address more easily if they were on their own. It’s harder for them to be separated from their children, they can focus on themselves and they would be safer too. You have men and women living in a place where they can’t have relationships, they’re young – you know what I mean?”

When Mariella speaks of Caritas, she is also speaking of the person who started it all, the indefatigable Dun Victor Grech, whom she holds in high esteem. The example he sets is her inspiration and what keeps her so committed to this work.

“Caritas is a part of him, it is a representation of who he is. Obviously, people talk about his values, but he is also a very intelligent man, very wise; he always has a vision. I’ve learned so much from him.”