Bugeja family picking up the pieces

Snuggled up in a warm blanket, nine-year-old Sarah Bugeja falls into a peaceful sleep on the sofa of a rented apartment which she and her family struggle to call their home.

A few blocks down the road the dusty site where their house once stood is walled up and serves as a grim reminder of last month's Naxxar explosion that robbed them of their home and personal possessions.

"Sarah really misses her doll, Mia. She had won the doll through an HSBC Christmas card competition and loved her because she could cry, burp and snore," her mother, Vicky, said as she caressed her sleeping daughter's cheek.

"We're not doing badly on the whole. People have helped us a great deal. I try not to think about what happened but, when I do, I start to panic," Mrs Bugeja said as she stood in the living room surrounded by her family and visiting relatives.

"It's surreal. Like a bad dream," her husband, Edward, continued as he explained that since the explosion his family moved into a rented apartment in the same Triq Ħal Dgħejf.

The government was paying €350 (Lm150) from their €466 (Lm200) monthly rent and will be helping them re-build their home by covering any construction costs that were not covered by insurance. But they were still waiting to find out when the works would begin.

A month after the blast, Mr Bugeja has now gone back to work at the Malta College of Culture and the Arts (Mcast) and is trying to get back into his normal work routine.

Mrs Bugeja, a housewife, is also trying to settle back into her daily lifestyle but misses the house where she spent most of her time.

"As I clean the apartment I cannot help but think that this is not our furniture and our house that I'm cleaning and organising. It's a completely different feeling...

"Sometimes I like to take a moment and imagine our old house. I imagine myself walking through it and going into the children's bedroom to kiss them goodnight," she said with an air of nostalgia.

The children, Sarah and her 15-year-old sister Rachel, are also trying to adjust. Mrs Bugeja explains that, since the blast, Sarah does not like going to the bathroom alone at night - something she had no problem doing before.

Rachel and Sarah only had their new bedroom for about two months when it was destroyed in the blast. Now they share a room in the rented apartment that is lined with soft toys given to them by people as a sign of support.

The girls' school has also been very supportive and helped them with books and notes they lost. Rachel was working hard to concentrate on her O level exams which she started last week. The teenager finishes her exams at the end of May and hopes it will be a good summer.

Mr Bugeja missed the time he spent in his garage when, after work, he would go and check on the home-made wines and liqueurs he used to make. He would even bottle and label them Grun - the nickname of his late father Cataldo. The blast melted away all his machinery and the spirits he had been working on for a year dissolved into nothing.

Despite their hefty material loss, the Bugejas are thankful that all their family emerged alive since, of the three families whose homes were demolished in the blast, theirs was the only one where there were no injuries or casualties.

The devastating explosion resulted in two fatalities - 35-year-old mother-of-two Sina Sammut and father-of-one Paul Camilleri, 47, who was in the garage where the explosion occurred.

At the time, Rachel was asleep in her bedroom when the blast went off. She crawled out alive as she was saved by a wardrobe that leaned over her bed and shielded her from the falling ceiling.

Rachel was not the only surviving family member as Bell, a cat they thought was dead, turned up covered in soot a few days later. Their other cat, Thomas, and their pet bird Brainy did not make it.

As Mr and Mrs Bugeja looked back at this past month they expressed an immense gratitude towards all those people who helped them, especially Mcast and their children's school Our Lady Immaculate in Ħamrun.

Anyone who wishes to help the Bugeja family can deposit money in the BOV account 4001 7049 454 (the Bugeja family Naxxar accident fund).