Sense of community 'key' in fighting poverty

People need to be taught how to care and look out for one another to rekindle that dwindling sense of community that could be key in fighting poverty, according to Ernest Cherrett from Caritas Malta.

The years he spent working in a Żebbuġ residential home for drug addicts reinforced his belief that more needs to be done to go back to the basics of education.

People need to be "taught" how to genuinely care since not everyone is fortunate enough to be taught that at home, according to Mr Cherrett who was part of the Maltese delegation attending a poverty conference in Brussels.

"Spending time with these men (at the home) I see that beneath their tough attitude there are weaknesses. They struggle to express how they feel," he said, adding he believed that the lack of emotional exposure played a part in their addiction that came with other problems like poverty and social exclusion.

"In this fast life, where all we care about is progress, we seem to have lost that sense of community. We don't really care if our neighbour woke up in the morning," he said, adding that moral education would help people lead a more balanced life.

Shirley Muscat and Angela Coppini, who also attended the poverty conference, are living testimony to the power of human interest.

Both women were pushed towards the brink of poverty and managed to overcome their problems thanks to people who cared enough to help them find meaning in their lives.

Ms Muscat, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, found support through people at the Richmond Foundation, which offers support to people with mental health problems. The foundation directed her towards the right path to handle her mental health problem.

"When my disorder was not controlled it was as though I did not have a life. I did not have a job and felt as though I could not do much and did not really enjoy life. Now that I found the right therapy, and it's controlled, I run a group at the Richmond Foundation to help those suffering from this condition," she said.

Her experience made her realise how much tougher life must be for those who were financially worse off than her.

"Poverty means these people do not afford therapy so it takes longer for them to move on with their lives. If they do not afford to go to regular therapy sessions, chances are they do not have the strength to work," she explained.

Like Ms Muscat, Ms Coppini's personal life story put her in a position to help those like her.

Ms Coppini went through a rough time after she separated from her husband. With two children to care for, she struggled to make ends meet but she is now managing.

Quoting from a recent study, Ms Coppini, who now runs a Caritas self-help group for single parents, said half of the children in one-parent households suffer from income poverty and 55 per cent of single parents with a child are at the highest risk of falling below the poverty line.

Holger Saliba, the head of delegation from the Anti-Poverty Forum that incorporates a group of Maltese NGOs, added that one aspect in helping the poor was helping them find a sense of meaning through spirituality - in the broad sense of the word that need not be about religion.

"People are experiencing a new type of spiritual poverty... My concern is that professional help can, at times, be superficial by focusing on housing and finances," he said.