Some of Eden's work 'lost' in secondary school

Lm123,000 had been raised by 10 p.m. yesterday during the Edenfest. The 14-hour long fund-raising marathon came to a close at midnight.

The day-long activity, which was organised for the second year running, raised money for the Eden Foundation.

Foundation chairman Josie Muscat told The Times just before the marathon kicked off at 10 a.m. that Eden was very much in need of money. In fact, the running costs of the foundation are expected to reach Lm780,000 this year.

Dr Muscat said that since its inception, the foundation had grown in a way that it could no longer depend solely on minor fund raising activities.

He said that although the foundation has made huge steps forward, and the progress made by its clients could be seen by everyone, he was not satisfied, and felt that more needed to be done so that people with a disability were given more opportunities.

"We know we can do more," he said, adding that the foundation also wanted to reach out to these people who were not taking part in the programmes. However, he said, this depended on the foundation's financial situation.

Dr Muscat expressed disappointment that some of the sterling work which the foundation was doing with children was being lost once they reached secondary education age.

He explained that because the government had not found the resources for support services in mainstream secondary schools, children with a disability were being sent to special schools.

"While we have nothing against special schools, and understand that for some children they are a necessity, there is nothing better than mainstream education," he said.

Having the best equipment at the foundation was not enough if the children were not integrated into mainstream education, he added.

With regard to attitudes toward people with a disability, Dr Muscat said although this had changed over the years, some people still did not like to include people with a disability.

The foundation's chief executive officer, Vincent Borg, said the foundation had invested a lot in yesterday's marathon. The first edition of the marathon was held last year at Bay Street and raised Lm35,000.

Around 200 volunteers, apart from various personalities, took part in yesterday's marathon. People could make donations either by going to Freedom Square, over the phone or by sending text messages.

After just three hours, the show had raised around Lm25,000, and by 7 p.m. the sum had gone up to over Lm62,000.