Award of prizes for ‘Tunisia Through the Eyes of a Child competition’

I have nothing but praise for the warm-hearted Tunisian ambassador to Malta, Souad Gueblaoui, so when she summons me I do my best to go to whatever the occasion may be.

 I recently received an invitation from her to ‘a reception’. So off I went to her home in Attard not knowing what was being celebrated.

I have been immersed in newspapers, TV programmes and internet for a good two months now. My main focus was the local political  scene and the Oil Scandal in which supposedly pillers of society and members of the Establishment are embroiled. Who can ignore the forgotten Swiss bank accounts, silver trays, commissions, ‘lost’ files? Really, there’s no honour among thieves but hopefully cheaters will not prosper. We all like to see justice done. I do not envy the families of the protagonists of this dreadful scandal who evidently did not know what was going on behind their back. I say bon courage. We are only responsible for ourselves at the end of the day. Go out and face the world. No one is going to judge you. This was not of your doing.

Ms Gueblaoui was greeting guests at the door. She was wearing a well-cut red jacket and black trousers. Upon enquiring she later told me that she had had the jacket made in South Korea in two hours. The largest size of ready-to-wear clothing in that country is size 38 so she was obliged to have everything made-to-measure. No wonder she always looks so well turned out. Made-to-measure clothes these days are very much a luxury here.

So the reception was to welcome those who sponsored, won or were involved in some way in the second edition of the painting competition  ‘Tunisia Through the Eyes of a Child’ to which 80 entries were submitted. The First Prize went to nine-year-old Julia Cappitta who attends Chiswick House School; the second to 10-year-old Alexandra Savona who goes to St Martin’s College, Swater. Both girls were there with their parents. I also finally met (in flesh and blood) Anita Seguna who had featured in our series in Gallarija ‘How I write’. I had no idea she was a headmistress as well as a writer.  For Anita has written some 14 children’s books. That evening Patrick Padovani introduced himself. He is the headmaster of St Martin’s College. He told me that he had taught my young one, Justine in years gone by. I Skyped her that evening and yes, she remembers. ‘Pleasant fellow Ma and a good teacher too,’ was her comment as she fed Theo some disgusting mish-mash which he was busy spitting out while he tried to take a bite, with all of four teeth, of his wooden train.

I know that if I step into the Tunisian residence I am bound to come into contact with lovely food and drink. A small napped table was set with drinks among them delicious lemonade. In Tunisia I learnt to also squeeze a lemon with oranges which gives the drink a special zing. Delicious. The lemonade made in Ms Gueblaoui’s kitchen was made of just lemons with sprigs of mint which were taken out before it was transferred into a jug and served.

I asked H.E. what she had been up to. She has not been idle. She has been working on an important project: a boat which links Tunisia, Malta and Libya. The project has now been finalized and not without hard work. “It is a great opportunity for businessmen from the three countries,” she told me.  Yes, we can now exchange imports and exports more easily, especially Tunisian dates and olive oil,  without having to import them by air. She continued: “I received this morning the Tunisian-Maltese partners: M. Mohamed Ben Saad (MedExpress company) and M. Joe Zammit of the Zammit Group and we can now celebrate the start of a new and fruitful bilateral cooperation. This will be the first direct maritime connection between Malta and Tunisia. I am sure that many Maltese businessmen will be happy to use it instead of having to send their goods to Tunisia through Italy.” Her Excellency is efficient in her own quiet way and gets things done.

As she said in her speech: “One of the aims of this competition is to familiarize children with Tunisia, a neighbour country to them which in past centuries wholeheartedly welcomed hundreds of Maltese emigrants into Tunisian society. Some Maltese descendents are still living in Tunisia today. This emigration gave birth to renowned personalities like Mr Edgar Pisani who went on to become one of the most prominent French political personalities. These families introduced the famous ‘Maltese orange’ which is now one of the most important products exported by Tunisia all over the world. They also introduced words which became part of the Tunisian language as khobsa maltia,(Maltese bread) chabka maltia (Maltese lace) and once, in the deep south of Tunisia, I heard two old women talking about a lady and one of them said that this lady ‘was beautiful like a Maltese.’ These are but a few examples to underline the cultural close links between our two societies and how important it is to transmit such beautiful memories to our children.’

She congratulated the two girls for their paintings: “Julia you have managed to express well the warm evening colours of a village in the south of Tunisia mong the palm trees. And you Alexandra, have managed to highlight very precisely through this blue door of Sidi Bou Said the small but so deep details of our mixed culture, a result of so many civilizations which occupied Tunisia since 5000 years.’

I’ve been several times to Sidi Bou Said as so many of us have. It is named after a Saint who gave this beautiful village which has existed since the 13th century and which is classified among the world heritage of humanity.

Last Word

Let us see what the results of the General Election are going to be and whether I am going to be celebrating or not on Sunday evening and Monday. I am very hopeful! ‘There is room for change,’ a friend said. I told her that must be the understatement of the year.