Every year, come Valentine's day, ‘I love you’ cards flood shops, flower sales undoubtedly rise and the occasional panicked man can be seen jumping from store to store, having forgotten about the occasion, frantically trying to find an appropriate gift for the missus.

Yet once in a while, someone decides to do things a little differently and Ms Stephanie Abood is one such person.

Instead of exchanging gifts, her and her husband chose to do something a little different; to donate food to charity and forego their yearly gift exchange.

“The idea began last year. Whenever Valentine’s day comes about, one would open up magazines and receive an amount of mail with offers. It’s not that we don’t like eating chocolates or receiving flowers, however we can do this throughout the year anyway”.

“We wanted to do something different, so I spoke with my husband and after 20 years of marriage,  we wanted to spread the circle of love and give something to charity instead of buying items for each other. When I spoke with my colleagues at the Faculty of ICT at University, not only did they like the idea, they wanted to join in.

“We asked permission from our head, Professor Ernest Cacchia, who I thank for always supporting me in every endeavour. He accepted and also joined me in going to the supermarket to buy the items in order to make this donation”.

The couple chose to donate to Dar Osanna Pia in Sliema, a house bequeathed to the Salesians of Don Bosco by Osanna Pia Bell who used to live in the house. She was a refugee in Malta during World War II and wanted to leave the house to the Salesians as a shelter for young people who have lost the support of their natural family.

The items donated consisted of four large cardboard boxes and a few shopping bags with food, such as pasta, as well as canned goods.

Father Savio Vella, Director of the home, said; “We train these young people to become independent and productive citizens, avoiding the circle of poverty and solely relying on social services. The young people here are encouraged to acquire the skills needed to live independently, like learning to do their own laundry, cook, maintenance work etc. We have a semi-independent set-up, where we live in the community and support each other.

We help them mature so that when they are ready to lodge themselves in society, the Salesians have opened another house consisting of single apartments, where they can move in and live there for two years on their own practicing what they would have learnt. This complex is very close by so they wouldn’t feel completely alone. One of our main aims is to help them overcome their fear of loneliness and their fear of not succeeding in life.

Asked whether Dar Osanna Pia receives many similar donations throughout the year, Father Vella said no, however that they receive support from various other philanthropic agencies like L-Istrina and Voices. We do have friends, and I would like to mention a group of women who provide us with food for the weekend, out of their own goodwill. Residents are encouraged to do their own cooking however if for some reason they are unable to, these good women cook them lunch as a sign of support.

A slowdown in donations

A while back, donations to Dar Osanna Pia had slowed down as unfortunately, the day we began to take in a few refugees, I was approached by a few now-former donors who objected to us taking in coloured people and refugees. I wouldn’t want to pass judgement on that, however since then, donations to Dar Osanna Pia have drastically diminished. We then had to seek drastic actions ourselves to seek donations from abroad. Our own Salesian society has helped us pick up the pieces since then. My superiors in Rome had asked me how many refugees we had taken in and upon hearing my response of five, they told me to take 10. Once we did that, people realised that we were not being discouraged by the lack of funds coming in and all sorts of people have tried to help in one way or another. But yes, financial aid for the home is still very low.

 

“Given the opportunity to meet these people face to face, what would you say to them? I would point out the fact that one of the main concerns of these young people coming to our shores is their fear of the future. These young people are so courageous that they risk their lives to overcome that fear and build a future for themselves. If we are afraid if incoming refugees, overcome that fear. Let us all try and form a successful story out of the tragedy around us and in that way we would be living out our faith. Jesus promised that if we love one another, we would be recognised as his followers. I would turn to these people and encourage them to stop and think about what these young people go through”.