Tarxien girl wins OASI Foundation award

Sarah Caruana of Tarxien won the Youth of the Year award organised by the OASI Foundation at Hotel Ta' Ċenċ in Sannat.

Ms Caruana, who was presented with the award by the acting president Anton Tabone, was nominated for the award by Josef De Bono, Fr Reuben Deguara and Paul Farrugia for her voluntary work in the community.

Ms Caruana was singled out for her sense of responsibility and because she did her utmost to give her best in everything she was involved in. Her positive attitude meant she was able to encourage other youths to follow in her footsteps.

Mr Tabone said that the value of giving without expecting anything in return was still pursued by youths. He was impressed by Ms Caruana's personal clip shown earlier in the evening when she said "I was given this opportunity", which clearly demonstrated her gratefulness for the work she was doing.

Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono encouraged young people to continue to offer community service and to never give up on helping others even when faced by insurmountable difficulties.

Gozo Bishop Mario Grech said society could be pushing rehabilitated drug users back into addiction if they were not allowed to reintergate in society.

He said there had to be an effective system to prevent recovered addicts falling back into old habits. Seven young people, five from Malta and two from Gozo qualified for the award.

All nominees were presented with a certificate and a commemorative trophy by the director general of the OASI Foundation Fr Manuel Cordina.