Editorial

When in 1989 the late Paddy Stubbs and his wife Janatha founded Ir-Razzett tal-Hbiberija or Park of Friendship, they must have never imagined that what was then a small converted farmhouse run by a handful of volunteers would transform itself into the giant complex it is today; providing a range of professionally designed facilities free of charge to over 1,000 people with a disability.

There was and still is scope for the expansion of the centre that provides hydrotherapeutic, multisensory and other therapies for people with both physical and mental disabilities. As the Park of Friendship expanded and its popularity increased it was very soon that volunteers were not enough and the organisation, which is run on a non-profit basis by the Janatha Stubbs Foundation UK, simply had to adopt a more professional approach. In a short 15 years, the original farmhouse has been turned into a vast complex with a splendid heated pool and large grounds run by Malta's top professionals in their specific spheres of specialisation.

All of us, without exception, are entitled to recreation and leisure time, more so those with physical and mental disabilities who, too often in the past, were left to wallow in silent loneliness; never seen and rarely heard by the outside world; an object of shame or an affliction for one's sins. Many people with disabilities lived their entire lives confined in the home and were very rarely taken out let alone taken swimming or horse riding! Times, thankfully, have changed and people with disability today are people with full rights who can, as far as they are able, achieve a lot more than they ever did and can lead fulfilled lives. To realise this, a centre like the Park of Friendship is essential.

If Id-Dar tal-Providenza, the residential homes for the handicapped in Siggiewi set up by the late, indefatigable Mgr Michael Azzopardi, brought people with disability out of "cellars", literally in some cases, the Park of Friendship takes them to the great outdoors and in close contact with nature. And what better therapy can there be!

The families of people with disabilities, however well-meaning and well-disposed, do not have either the wherewithal or the professional knowledge to provide the necessary essential facilities on an individual basis. This is why foundations like the Park of Friendship must be enthusiastically supported.

The foundation is self-governed and independent of the state and depends entirely on the generosity of the public, corporate sponsors and fund-raising events to survive. Running stables for horse riding, holding classes in arts, crafts and pottery, cooking, operating a centre for animal interaction and a multisensory room, organising wheelchair dancing sessions, a Kid's Club, periodical camping experiences and, last but certainly not least, a Miniature Railway named Emma Joanna after Paddy Stubbs' mother that takes one past the animals and the lovely Marsascala countryside, is certainly no joke. No wonder that, like most other similarly run organisations, the Park of Friendship is in a perpetual state of financial difficulty.

The irony of it all is the fact that while no fewer than 15 major organisations that are heavily subsidised by the government make regular use of the facilities free of charge, the Park of Friendship itself receives no subsidy at all. The therapy provided there fulfils requirements that fall under no fewer than three ministries: education, family and social solidarity and health and, yet, for the past 15 years it has been surviving as best it can while other organisations enjoy subsidies as high as 90 per cent!

This must change and soon.