Home-made refugee in Valletta

You may have noticed her roaming among the buses at the Valletta bus terminus. Carrying a plastic bag in each hand - her whole worldly possessions - she searches for empty bottles in the litter bins and exchanges them for a snack and a drink at one of the kiosks. Most people avoid her, some mock her and a few others buy her a snack or help her when she becomes disorientated.

Hers is a sad (and unfortunately not the only) story. Once, she had a family but for some reason found herself on the street. She spends most of the morning in the bus terminus region. She uses the public toilets for her basic needs. In the evening she returns to her home town of Senglea where she repeats her ritual of staying alive. At night she sleeps on one of the benches at the deserted marina. One day we will read in the news that a woman was found dead in these conditions.

And yet, no one seems to feel the need to treat "our sister" in the same way as we treat "our brothers and sisters" from Africa. No doers of good to fight for her right as a Maltese citizen to a decent place to sleep, and for regular medical check-ups, three meals a day, mobile phone plus free top-up cards, free running water and electricity and the possibility to go to the Monti on Sunday and return with bulging bags full of goodies.

A classic case of the need for charity to begin at home.