Teens get chance to embark on a new life

Wearing a baseball cap and a huge smile across his face, Frank Schembri, 17, yesterday proudly received a certificate showing he had gained important life skills.

Before, I felt like I was a street boy. But now I’ve been given the skills I really needed

Just three years ago, the young man who was raised in a children’s home, spent his time lurking around the streets with other children and had practically no social skills.

“Before, I felt like I was a street boy. I didn’t know how to speak to people. I spoke in a rough manner. But now I can speak politely… I was given the skills I really needed,” he said, with a sparkle of satisfaction in his eyes.

Mr Schembri was among the 386 young people who benefited from the EU-funded project Embark for Life (E4L), which helped youngsters, between the ages of 16 and 24, gain skills they needed to continue studying or to enter the working world.

“It helped me a lot,” Mr Schembri said, adding he was looking forward to practising his newfound skills to land a job and be able to afford his own place. He is not fussy about what job he wants and is willing to try anything.

“I just thank God I’m healthy,” he said.

Like him, Loredana Bonello, 17, was brought up in a St Venera home for girls as her family could not raise her. Within five months, when she turns 18, she will be moving back in with her family and would like to find a job by then to help out with the bills.

“When I was first told about E4L, I was not convinced. But my youth worker explained what it was all about and I became interested,” she said.

She is now working on getting her Maltese O level and is also studying to obtain her basic computer proficiency certificate.

“I like learning subjects I’m interested in, not academic subjects. This project was of great help to me and my friends. I think the thing I’ll miss most is the family feeling,” she said.

The project started in 2009 and comes to an end this year. It was supported by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services in collaboration with the Housing Authority and the Employment and Training Corporation.

Courses were tailor-made according to the individual’s needs and included basic life and job-seeking skills and more specific skills.

Yesterday, participation certificates were handed out to some of the youngsters who recently completed a course.

Sina Bugeja, chief executive of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said the project showed that, with some effort, young people could be helped to succeed since “not everyone learnt in the same way”.

She said she was working with Family Minister Chris Said to continue the project next year.

Dr Said said he was currently assessing the situation with the aim to fund the project from the national budget.

He encouraged young people to keep attending courses and “never say it’s enough”.

Illegal employment

Some employers are taking advantage of the desperation of young people, who come from troubled backgrounds, and employing them without a work permit.

This was a concern strongly raised during the conference by both young people and the youth workers who helped them.

This illegal employment meant they were stripped of their rights.

Sometimes, employers engaged workers for a few weeks, telling them they were on trial, and then dismissed them without paying them.

On other occasions, the employer registered the new employee after many months.

Project leader Stephen Vella called on the ETC to implement some form of measure to ensure that, once youngsters were employed, the employer registered them immediately.