Mdina allows children to break the sound of silence

The silence of Mdina will be broken for a day next month as young children descend on the old capital to discover its hidden treasures.

The event - Dawra Durella Madwar L-Mdina - will encourage young children to collect money in aid of the Equal Partners Foundation, which provides personalised therapy programmes and support to families with members who have a disability or learning difficulties.

For two hours on the morning of May 14, the youngsters - attending kindergarten and years one and two - will congregate in the old capital for a day of events that aim to make them more acquainted with Mdina.

The event - sponsored by Vivian Corporation Ltd - is being coordinated with the Mdina local council, and both Children's Commissioner Carmen Zammit and the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport, Clyde Puli, are expected to attend.

This will be the second activity of its sort, with the first walk-about taking place in Mdina last year. Some €5,800 (about Lm2,500) were collected in last year's event, in which 1,600 children took part.

Foundation committee member Elena Tanti Burlò stressed the importance of funds for the non-profit organisation, which provides support to some 200 families. The foundation, set up in 1999 and built on the concept of inclusion, self-determination and advocacy, also promotes the involvement of parents, who are, after all, the ones who understand their children most, president Colin Galea pointed out.

"The past few years have seen a lot of development but there is still a lot to be done," he said.

Mr Galea said most of the foundation clients - 68 per cent - were between the age of four and 12, followed by teenagers.

Dr Tanti Burlò said prizes will be given to the three children who collect the biggest sum of money, the school which collects the highest amount and the school which collects the largest sum per child.

Apart from a guided tour of Mdina, the children will also be entertained with a play based on the story of Little Red Riding Hood (last year it was the story of the Three Little Pigs). In a variation from the fairytale, the three pigs became friends with the wolf towards the end. It is not yet known whether Little Red Riding Hood will also become friends with the wolf that eats her grandmother.