The popular saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” surely does not fit with the Ursuline Sisters’ St Rita Home’s façade at Tarxien.
The priority is to make the institutes a home, a safe place for the children
At first glance, you immediately get the feeling that there is something special going on behind those walls.
The mother surperior, Sister Magdalene Cauchi, and four other nuns are doing some wonderful work with the needy children in their care.
St Rita Home is home to 15 children, but it has the capacity to add five more if the need arises.
Boys may stay there from three to nine years while girls are kept under the nuns’loving care until they are 18. Once the children reach the age limit, they are moved to another home.
The young ones come from families with drug and alcohol problems, parents who are in prison, disabled parents or inadequate people who abuse their own children.
If there’s someone who dedicated her whole life to helping children who are not her own, then Sister Magda is the one.
For the past 39 years she has striven to give children a better life than the one they were having with their own parents.
Besides being the mother superior of St Rita Home for the last 18 months, she is a social worker and coordinates all the work in five other homes.
She is the link between Agenzija Appoġġ and the homes, and makes sure that all agreements between the agency and the homes are adhered to.
Sister Magda is also a shoulder for the other sisters in these caring centres.
She shares their difficulties and gives them all the support they need in coping with the demands the children put upon them. And there are many.
“The priority is to make the institutes a home, a safe place for the children,”she said.
“ We give them all our love and we want our homes to be as comfortable as possible for them. When they come to us, some of the children are traumatised by the life they were living with their parents and they can have behavioural difficulties.
“In some cases, children are monitored most of the time by one-to-one carers and Learning Support Assistants when at school. This service is provided by Agenzija Appoġġ.”
But all of this comes at a price.
St Rita Home is struggling to make ends meet. Contributors and volunteers have dropped significantly in the past couple of years.
So Sister Magda and her little band welcome with open arms all the help they can get at the moment.
Inspired by St Angela Merici who for 70 years directed a number of young women who were known as “The Company of St Ursula”, the congregation was set up in Malta by Mgr Isidoro dei Conti Formosa in 1887 to take care of poor and abandoned babies and children.
The congregation has 10 homes in Malta, one in London, one in Noto, Sicily, and one in Rome. Nowadays, the apostolate is exercised also in kindergarten schools and in catechesis both in Malta and abroad.
I closed my conversation with Sister Magda with her telling me that during this time of year, some people bring toys to the children and take them to parties.
It’s lovely that people remember the children during Christmas time, she says. But what about the other months of the year?
It would be such a help if some good souls sponsor a child all year round. That way the nuns could afford to give children the opportunity to learn new things, like music, drama and sports.
If you can help in any way, please contact St Rita Home on phone number 21672693. Or write to: The Ursuline Sisters, 5, Manwel Buhagiar Street, Tarxien.