We are writing this letter in the name of all the many young people who attend the Mosta Youth Empowerment Centre (MYEC).

During our last meeting, we couldn’t but sadly confirm the recent widespread rumours that our centre is in danger of being closed down due to lack of funds by the Local Council. We were all devastated by this news. Over the past years the centre has opened up a lot of opportunities for us, through our regular weekly meetings and other activities we sometimes organise ourselves together with our leaders.

The MYEC is a place where we young people can go and meet up with others our own age. We share, learn and train together in team-building activities and discuss issues pertinent to our age, always guided by a very dedicated youth worker and her team of volunteers. To all of us, this centre has become part of life and in turn we became part of its large extended family. For most of us it is also the only reason and decent venue we can find after school hours to meet our friends without any concern to our parents!

Something we can’t get our heads around is the fact that the local council seems to find enough money to spend on other one-time interesting activities such as the ‘Notte Bianca’, but doesn’t seem to understand the worthwhile investment in a local group that has done only good and offered a lot of opportunities to many, many young people in Mosta.

Speaking through experience, the centre has opened a lot of doors for me, shaping me to be the person that I am today. Both individually and as a group, we have gained maturity, open-mindedness and a great sense of responsibility both within our respective families and within the community. I dare say that if it weren’t for the MYEC, my life would have probably been less exciting. And I am sure this applies to most of us who over the years have attended the regular meetings at the centre. Not to mention the personal attention we are given through one-to-one meetings with our youth worker and the many international activities she and her team have attracted to the young community in Mosta!

We are hoping to raise awareness among the councillors themselves and the community at large for this centre to be kept open and fully functional. It is only doing good to young people like us, keeping us off the streets where known and unknown dangers can easily ruin our future! Please understand that, over and above our academic education, we badly need our centre in building a strong character and a team spirit so that, away from all the wrong things around, we grow into mature citizens!

We need everyone’s support in convincing the Local Council to keep extending the necessary support to our youth centre. We are compiling a petition hoping that we would succeed in keeping the centre open. Whoever believes in us may come down at the centre and sign this petition so that together we can save something that is very close to our hearts and beneficial to the whole local community!

Larissa Psaila

Pauline Attard

Stefan Attard

Mosta