Social and Personal

CURMI. On July 26, at Karin Grech Hospital Maternity Wing, to Janice née Farrugia and Nicky, God's precious gift of a first-born son - KAI PIO. Deo gratias et Mariae. Special thanks to all the staff at the maternity wing.

DEBONO. On July 25, at Karin Grech Hospital Maternity Wing, to Sabrina née Aquilina and Daniel, God's precious gift of a first-born son - STEPHEN. Deo gratias et Mariae.

FRAZIER. On June 29, at Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital, London, to Vanessa née Grima Baldacchino and Marco, God's precious gift of a first-born son - JULIAN. Thanks to midwives Jenny Smith and Charlotte Mayou, and all the staff at the maternity section.

STILON. On July 27, at St James Capua Hospital, Sliema, to Nicole née Calleja and Simon, God's precious gift of a daughter - SIENNA. Thanks to all the dedicated staff at the hospital.

VELLA. On July 20, at St James Capua Hospital, Sliema, to Nathalie née Wright and Desmond, God's precious gift of a first-born son - TRAVIS. Thanks to our families and all the staff at the hospital, especially midwife Mrs Carmen Scerri.

VELLA HABER. On July 20, at Karin Grech Hospital Maternity Ward, to Patricia née Casha and Malcolm, God's precious gift of a son - MATTIA. Special thanks to all the dedicated maternity staff, parents and family.

Engagements

Ing. DANIEL CAMILLERI, B.Eng. (Hons) M.Sc. (Brunel) and Dr INGRID BUHAGIAR BA, LL.D.
The engagement is announced between DANIEL, son of Mr and Mrs George Camilleri of St Paul's Bay, and INGRID, daughter of Professor and Mrs Mario Buhagiar of Attard. Mgr John Dimech blessed the ring.

Golden Wedding

Mr ALFRED RUGGIER and Miss MARIA MICALLEF
Congratulations from your sisters, brother and nieces in Malta. Mother Tarcisia of the Ursuline Sisters, Lilian, Edgar, Isabelle, Nathalie and Ann. God bless you.

Mr ANTHONY VICTOR WIRTH and Miss ANN PORTANIER
The marriage took place on July 27, 1955, at Stella Maris Church, Sliema. Congratulations and thank you both for all you have done for us throughout these wonderful years. Love from Sandra, Lorraine and Bryan, Audrey and David, and your beloved grandchildren Kyle, Andreas, James and Nicole.

Obituary

POLLACCO. On July 30, John, of Attard, aged 83, passed peacefully away, comforted by the rites of Holy Church. He leaves to mourn his loss his wife Josephine, his children Lina and her husband Kenneth Wain, Emanuel and his wife Salvina, John and his wife Dorienne, Josette and her husband Laurence Camilleri, and Victor and his wife Liliana, his brothers, grandchildren, their families, other relatives and friends. - R.I.P.
The funeral leaves Casa Antonia, Balzan, tomorrow at 8.30 a.m. for Attard parish church, where Mass praesente cadavere will be said at 9 a.m., followed by interment in the family grave at Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery.

Appreciation - Dame Cicely Saunders

Ms Theresa Naudi, chairman of the Malta Hospice Movement, writes:

Dame Cicely Saunders, OM, DBE, visionary founder of the modern hospice movement, who set the highest standards in care for the dying, died on July 14, aged 87. She earned gratitude, admiration and international renown for helping to alleviate the suffering of people with incurable cancer.

Dame Cicely, as she was affectionately known, began her training as a Nightingale nurse and then as a hospital social worker. A lifelong back defect made a career in these professions impossible. Her passionate concern for the sick and suffering, and her experience as a volunteer at St Luke's, a home for the dying poor, persuaded her to challenge the received medical wisdom about dying, death and bereavement.

She put herself back to school, studied physics and chemistry, and qualified as a doctor when she was 38. She then combined membership of a research group on pain, set up at St Mary's, Paddington, with her continuing ward work - this time at St Joseph's, Hackney, where the Sisters of Charity showed her how much might be done for the dying by sustained loving care; and where she, in turn, began to bring into play her more unorthodox ideas about pain relief.

She was a remarkable innovator in the treatment of pain. She demonstrated, what is now widely adopted, that intermittent reactive sedation of surging pain was far less effective than achieving a steady state in which the dying patient could still maintain consciousness and even life with some quality. She pioneered a 'total care' approach which addressed all the possible components of 'total pain' whether physical, psychological, social or spiritual.

Converted to Evangelical Christianity in the Forties, Dame Cicely had both a medical and a spiritual vision - embracing all denominations - which she built on: "the provision of care in the hospice and at home"; "the teaching and training of doctors and nurses in palliative care"; and "the promotion of research into the care and treatment of the dying".

Dame Cicely established St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham in 1967, where, for the first time and on her initiative, she attempted to provide patient-centred palliative care for the terminally ill, combining emotional, spiritual and social support with expert medical and nursing care. Its practices have since been widely copied and developed.

Today St Christopher's cares for about 2,000 patients and their families each year and, in training more than 60,000 health professionals, has influenced standards of care for the dying throughout the world. Hundreds of hospices in Britain and more than 95 other countries are modelled on St Christopher's.

Dr Saunders was a charismatic grande dame with strong values and a great talent for leadership. She was such a remarkable innovator in the treatment of physical and psychological pain that she eventually held fellowships in the Royal College of Physicians (1974), the Royal College of Nursing (1981) and the Royal College of Surgeons (1986).

She was awarded the esteemed Templeton, Onassis and Wallenberg prizes, a score of honorary degrees and medals, was advanced from OBE (1967) to DBE in 1980 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 1989. In 2001 she was awarded the million-dollar Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.

Three Polish men had a great influence on her life. The first was David Tasma, a refugee from the Warsaw ghetto, whom she met on her first rounds as an almoner at St Thomas's and with whom she had an intimate but unconsummated love. He was a friendless waiter with no family, and there was no consolation for him except in the love which she discovered to be within her reach. It was then that she saw how the pain of cancer could be tamed by modern drugs and that unavoidable distress could be made tolerable by a form of care that ranked the physical and spiritual needs of the patient together.

Tasma bequeathed her all his worldly goods, £500, which she treasured for years until she found a way to give full effect to his cryptic wish that it should be "a window in your home". His gift is now commemorated in the entrance to St Christopher's.

The second of the Poles who changed her life was Antoni Michniewicz, who showed her what dying might be like when love could be given and received. His death inspired her plan to found St Christopher's - named, appropriately, after the patron saint of travellers - as a place to find shelter on the most difficult part of life's journey.

The third was Marian Bohuz-Szyszko, a Catholic émigré and artist whom she married in 1980, after the death of his separated wife. They had 15 loving and happy years together until Marian's death in 1995 St Christopher's was to cater primarily for cancer patients, because Saunders had seen a gap in NHS provision, highlighted by a 1952 Marie Curie Foundation survey of their needs and a later Gulbenkian report on the care of the chronically sick - a perspective which today carries the principles and practice of palliative care beyond the initial concern with cancer.

It took years of planning and financing to open a purpose-built hospice on the Sydenham site. There Saunders explored all the possibilities for matching quality medical care with support for patients and their families at home, changing existing medical and social attitudes about the care of the dying.

Through the struggles for financial and professional backing, in which Saunders proved herself as a medical director, a fundraiser of quiet genius, a relentless administrator and a proponent of the hospice idea on the world stage, it was clear that she was achieving exactly what she set out to do.

The change she accomplished in medical attitudes was most notably recognised when the Royal College of Physicians established palliative medicine as a distinct medical specialty.

When the Cicely Saunders Foundation was launched in 2002, her reputation attracted leading specialists from North America and Australia to its international scientific advisory panel. The foundation aims to promote research into all aspects of palliative medicine and care for the dying, with particular emphasis on collaborations between different professions in healthcare, clinical and non-clinical services, to improve the integration between research and practice.

Many years ago, in response to a question at a symposium about the prospect of death, Saunders declared that she would hope for a sudden demise but would prefer to die - as she has - with a cancer that gave due notice and allowed the time to reflect on life and to put one's practical and spiritual affairs in order.

We bid farewell to a great woman of our time, who revolutionised the medical care of the dying and in her own dying was a living example of all that she had taught.

Appreciation - Connie Fenech

Ms Rita Camilleri, ex-deputy head, Convent of the Sacred Heart (Senior School), St Julian's, writes:

I first met Connie Fenech (née Nassetta) in October 1960 when I entered Mater Admirabilis Training College for my two-year Teacher Training Course. She was president of the Council of Students. I remember I was struck straight away by Connie's sense of duty. She always managed to do the correct thing, and influenced others to follow her.

We then met again at the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in the early Seventies. Here she used to teach English and Doctrine to all Form 1 students. Now I saw Connie at her work, and once again I was struck by her great sense of duty.

To these young girls she was the figure of a firm mother at school, although maybe a little too firm at times. However, she managed to help them tremendously in the transition period from Junior School to becoming independent individuals in Senior School, besides getting on with the teaching of her two subjects.

No one ever forgot Mrs Fenech. They all treated her with respect till the very end of their school life. There was no fooling around with her. She managed to transmit to the girls a sense of security, so much so that once, when I was admonishing a class of fifth formers for misbehaviour, I had asked, "So what type of teachers do you want?" A particularly mischievous student answered, "We want people like Mrs Fenech, people who are good teachers, firm and loving and are not intimidated by us. She is wasted with the Form 1s." Quite an eye opener! If we have her both with the young entrants and with the school leavers! But of course this was impossible. When I told Connie about the remark, she just gave me her usual quiet smile and told me, "I am happy where I am." And that is where she remained.

Come wind, rain, shine or floods Mrs Fenech was always at school. At times the girls used to ask "Is Mrs Fenech never away?" No, Mrs Fenech was always at school and she did not even own a car.

Connie's sense of duty even transmitted itself to the staff. When it was time to go to class, we did not ask: "Has the bell gone?" Instead we looked out for Connie. If she was not there, then it was time to move to class.

Besides her excellent standard of work, I always admired Connie's strength of character, her simplicity, honesty and straightforwardness. You always knew where you stood with Connie. Unfortunately, just as we started to enjoy a very relaxed relationship on our retirement with the wonderful group of the Golden Girls of the Sacred Heart School, Connie was literally snatched away from us after a relatively short and cruel illness.

I am sure that now, after all her hard work, she is in the arms of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom she loved and revered so much. I wish to thank her for the wonderful years together, for all the years she dedicated to educating Malta's children in state schools and at the Sacred Heart. I would like to finish off with the words that our friend Mrs Patricia Sant, read out at the funeral Mass: "If there were more Connies in the world, it would definitely be a much better place!"

Appreciation - Anthony P. Galdes

Mr Paul V. Azzopardi, of Sliema, writes:
I first met Tony Galdes when he was governor of the Central Bank. I had just published a paper on interest rate liberalisation in the Bank of Valletta Review and as he strode purposefully into the hall where the meeting he was to address was being held. he took the trouble to complement me, "that's a good paper you wrote".

He smiled slightly but very kindly, as was his manner, at my evident surprise, and as I muttered my thanks he was already in the midst of the welcoming group. The governorship of the Central Bank is always a somewhat formidable post and I was then an unknown young man, and obviously elated.

Some months later I met him at a party and he told me about all the changes he was overseeing at the Central Bank. He impressed me with his direct, practical, and unpretentious ways. At the time, the Central Bank was rebuilding its research department in order to have a more detailed understanding of the economy, which was expected to grow more complex as new money market and capital instruments were introduced and as interest rates were made more responsive to market forces. Banks were privatised and given more leeway to develop and to set up venture capital subsidiaries. This, and an increasingly more complex international regulatory environment, required new levels of bank supervision.

The money market - today's system of treasury bills operations and deposit auctions - was being planned and studies were made about how best to set up and launch a capital market, with the Stock Exchange as its centrepiece. This was eventually done and the Central Bank, through its broker, played a very important role, especially in making a market in government bonds. These fundamental first steps, including the liberalisation of interest rates, were all made under Tony's firm direction. These first steps were among the most important set of initiatives in Maltese finance in the last 25 years enabling others to build on them.

Later, when he was no longer governor, he set up the Financial Services Trade Section at the Chamber of Commerce. He was the first president, and I, the honorary secretary. We continued to work there together for some years and, on and off, we also met at Farsons, too, which was very much to his heart and where he was held in high esteem. He had vast experience of both the public and the private sectors and this gave him valuable insight into the nexus between the two.

Tony had a natural grasp of things, not just of finance, but of that too, of how things work, and how they are put together, and how people and events interact, what a particular person would likely do in a given set of circumstances. He was a sagacious man, scrupulously fair and honest.

I often asked him for advice and it was always forthcoming, wise, kind, and studied. I never came across an occasion when he spoke off the top of his head. He was always focused and thoughtful. His assessment of people was admirable. When he needed to put a person right, he did it firmly but with good humour.

He loved books in themselves and for the knowledge they contain. He was always open to new ideas and had a ready, knowing chuckle when something turned out to be counter-intuitive or unexpected. He also loved art, and the ideas behind it. He was dedicated to his family and his family's welfare was always in mind.

There is another thing which stands out clearly in my mind about him: his comprehensive approach. He never approached things piecemeal but always made it a point to understand a problem in all its ramifications and to then devise solutions which in the circumstances were most practical, effective, economical and durable. In meetings, his decisions were borne by the consensus.

The news of his loss, while I was abroad, shocked and numbed me. He looked and carried himself like a man 20 years his junior. Perhaps he was wisest in always insisting on only working with people and in circumstances he liked. Only the very few have such a gigantic moral strength.

In Memoriam

BONELLO. Treasured memories of a devoted husband and father, ROMANO, today the 31st anniversary of his demise. His wife Doris, sons and daughters.

DARMANIN - CARMELA. Affectionate memories of a mother, who loved us infinitely, today being her 19th anniversary. Always in our thoughts and prayers. Her sons, daughters, in-laws and grandchildren. A prayer is solicited.

ELLUL - ANTHONY. Treasured memories of our beloved father, today the 68th anniversary of his demise. Giovanna, Risette and family.

ELLUL - MARIO. Fond and unfading memories of a very dear friend, today the first anniversary of his passing away. "You can shed tears that he is gone or you can smile because he has lived." FOG and friends.

FALZON - EMANUEL (Milend Restaurant Proprietor). In loving memory on this fourth anniversary of his death on August 3, 2005. Deeply loved and missed by his wife Doris, children Mario and Grecia, his mother Maria, mother-in-law Lucy, brothers, sisters and families, in-laws, relatives and friends. Lord grant him eternal rest.

GRECH - JOE on the 11th anniversary of his demise. Always in our thoughts and prayers. Marie, Daniela and Jean-Paul.

MERCIECA - Sir ARTURO MECIECA. In fondest remembrance of a wonderful father on the 36th anniversary of his demise. Ever grateful and always in our thoughts and prayers. His family.

Sidonia Enterprises Ltd

Summer shutdown 2005. Last trading day Friday, August 5. Re-open Monday, August 22. Phone 2124-0994.

Pharmacies Open Today

Malta 9 a.m. to noon, Gozo 7.30 to 11 a.m.
Chemimart Ltd, 14, St Anne Street, Floriana;
St Gaetan Pharmacy, Parish Priest Mifsud Street, Hamrun;
Drugshop Dispensary, De La Cruz Avenue, Qormi;
St Jude Pharmacy, 213, Valley Road, Birkirkara;
J & L Pharmacy, 8, Yacht Marina Apartments, Marina Road, Pietà;
Potter Chemists Ltd, Wilga Street, Paceville, St Julian's;
Mrabat Pharmacy, 5, Imrabat Street, Sliema;
Medica Pharmacy, Naxxar Road, Balzan;
St Mary Pharmacy, 14, Rotunda Square, Mosta;
Karizia Drugstore, 87, George Borg Olivier Street, Mellieha;
Agius Pharmacy, 64/65, Antoine De Paule Square, Paola;
Victory Pharmacy, 32, Victory Street, Senglea;
May Day Pharmacy, Victory Street, Zabbar;
Medicaid Pharmacy, Tower Avenue, Gudja;
Prestige Pharmacy, 16, St Joseph Road, Kirkop;
St Nicholas Pharmacy, 1, Parish Street, Siggiewi;
Healthwise Pharmacy, 36, Francesco Zammit Street, Dingli;
Castle Pharmacy, 2, Independence Square, Victoria;
Tony's Pharmacy, Qbajjar Road, Marsalforn.