IT scheme gives children better chance

Underprivileged children from Valletta's notorious Mandraġġ area should be lured off the streets and provided with resources to pursue their education through the opening of an IT centre in Old Mint Street.

The Santu Wistin 6pm IT & Resource Centre for kids, which opened last night, is the fruit of an initiative by the ITC company 6pm and its charity foundation, which have been working with St Augustine parish priest Fr Saviour Grima since it came across an article in The Times two years ago, highlighting the extent of the poverty and low living conditions in the area.

After reading the article that showed "enormous" social problems, including drugs, gambling, usury, abuse and theft, 6pm had contacted Fr Grima to look into the type of assistance required. Its directors had actually gone to meet the residents and assess the situation and were touched by the level of poverty.

A number of families in the area, which spreads from Hastings down to the Manoel Theatre and Marsamxetto harbour, struggled to get by even on a day-to-day basis, Fr Grima said, and some of their daily needs were urgent and desperate.

"These families just cannot keep up with life," Fr Grima said, explaining that most were unemployed but had to make ends meet to bring up their children.

"Some of them have nothing in their homes," he continued, adding that their children could now do their homework in a better environment at the centre under supervision.

Things have improved since awareness was raised and help started flowing in, with monthly donations from private companies, used mostly for food and educational tools, Fr Grima said.

But the Good Neighbourhood Scheme, whereby a leader was appointed for every street and knew the needs of its residents, never got off the ground because of lack of cooperation with the local council.

Moreover, more social workers were still required but the parish has started collaborating with the government's agency Aċċess and was hoping things would change.

The centre is expected to develop into a "hub" for Valletta society.

It is being used to the maximum, with the parish planning to run a series of courses for parents and single mothers to raise awareness on parenting and provide the skills to reintroduce them into the workforce.

Located in a once derelict townhouse belonging to the Church, it was set up to give something back to the community.

Thanks to volunteers, work on the house that had been abandoned for the last decade started early in the year. It had to be completely stripped down to ensure it was restored to the level of safety standards required for children.

"We hope this is the first of the 6pm Children's IT centres. Through our foundation, we aim to identify other projects in other areas where we can help get children off the streets and provide them with the resources to help with their education so they can build a better future for themselves", said Emma Diacono, from the 6pm Charity Foundation.

Registered last year, the foundation aims at providing support to underprivileged children and families in both Malta and the UK.

Donations for the centre were received from the 6pm employees and from Fenech & Fenech Advocates, Engenuity Ltd, Jokate Group of Companies Ltd, The Good Causes Fund, Vodafone and Compunet.