It is not every day that an institution depending mainly on providence turns down donations but the Ursuline Crèche in Sliema, driven by honesty, has done just that this Christmas, stopping the “exaggerated” food supplies it was receiving.
The Ursuline sisters denied rumours their crèche, which takes care of 50 children from newborns to five-year-olds, was in dire straits following the circulation of e-mails attempting to raise awareness of their “urgent” needs.
“This is not Ethiopia,” they said, unwilling to paint an unreal picture of their situation and feeling it was unfair the public was tricked into thinking their home was lacking food and various essentials when other institutions could be in a worse state.
While thanking benefactors for their interest, they actually had to put a stop to the food they were receiving because it was considered a waste and would expire before being used.
At this time of the year, benefactors tend to increase considerably and donations are always welcome because the home has to foot massive electricity and water bills. But the sisters and the children in their care are by no means dying of hunger and do not lack anything.
Every year, some benefactor calls to see if the crèche requires anything and the Mother Superior may indicate a need. Last year, she had casually mentioned nappies as the children go through several in a day. Before they knew it, e-mails had spread like wildfire and the situation was made to seem much worse than it was and, again, the home was inundated.
“Nappies are one thing because they can be kept for future use but food is a different story,” said one of the sisters, who pointed out the children in their care were anyway always fed fresh fruit and vegetables and did not eat tinned food.
Such was the surplus they received, the Mother Superior felt the need to send out an e-mail to “stop things”.
“We do not wish to take what could be going to other homes, where it is more needed; neither do we want to give the public the wrong impression. It would not be right for them to turn up here and see that our needs were being catered for after all.”
Ironically, the Sliema crèche was actually worried about the surplus and the fact that people would see for themselves that the urgent situation was untrue.
“While we accept what comes our way, we need not exaggerate,” she said of the Maltese trait to be overzealous.
There are four Ursuline crèches in Malta and none of the children in the Sliema home are orphans. Their parents are either separated or in prison. Some are illegitimate or the offspring of teenage mothers.
The homes are funded mostly by providence. And though it may seem a precarious way to finance an institution, divine intervention is never really lacking – “thank God!”
“God has always taken care of us... It is amazing how, coincidentally, every time we have a new child we happen to receive loads of stuff we need.”
Providence also comes in the form of the green grocer dropping off any leftover vegetables at the end of the day. Of course, the sisters sift through it to pick out the best for their tots.