What the war was like

I want to congratulate San Andrea School and the Parents' Foundation for Education for their initiative. It was an excellent idea to produce the short film dealing with the harsh realities the Maltese went through during the last war.

The pupils' first-hand experience will be forever imprinted on their little minds. It is important that our children understand what war really means so that from now on they start working for peace in the world. It is also important for them to realise what our ancestors had to endure during the war. It is not just today's children that can never believe the hardships our fathers and mothers went through in Malta but also their parents. It was for this purpose that I wrote and published Il-Misteru tar-Rotunda specifically for children and teenagers. It must be the only publication of its kind written expressly for this age group and in Maltese.

The story and the illustrations by artists Lewis Wirth and Guido Lanfranco are simple but very expressive and eloquent. In fact, before I read about this initiative by the San Andrea School, somebody had told me that my book would make an excellent script for a film for it covers the whole tragedy of the war in an excellent way.

Who knows maybe another school or film enthusiast will think about this useful suggestion.