Helen Keller Regional Centre Guide Dog School president Moreno Innocenti; Giuseppe Terranova; Malta Guide Dogs Foundation chairman Leone Sciberras and his guide dog Aval; and Brigitte Micallef and Barbie.Helen Keller Regional Centre Guide Dog School president Moreno Innocenti; Giuseppe Terranova; Malta Guide Dogs Foundation chairman Leone Sciberras and his guide dog Aval; and Brigitte Micallef and Barbie.

Barbie, the latest Malta Guide Dogs Foundation dog, and its new handler Brigitte Micallef, a transcriber who works at the House of Representatives, is back in Malta after ‘graduating’ in Messina.

It was an eventful fortnight for Micallef, 46, of Swieqi, for whom Barbie is her first guide dog. She has been training solidly with her dog every day, earning her ‘graduation’ as a guide dog handler along with 10 other handlers from Italy.

Barbie was officially handed over to her by her trainer Giovanni Visali Garufi of the Helen Keller Regional Centre Guide Dog School of the Italian Blind Union of Messina. Two other women also received guide dogs.

Also present for the graduation ceremony at Messina town hall were MGDF chairman Leone Sciberras and the foundation’s secretary Lilibeth Cachia. Talks with the Helen Keller school resulted in ties with the foundation being further strengthened.

The foundation’s orientation and mobility instructor Rita Criminale, who accompanied Micallef on the trip, said: “Barbie and Brigitte are bonding well together and it was helpful that Giovanni could give Brigitte his full attention. This is truly a case of a person achieving her independence thanks to a guide dog and I’m impressed with the progress achieved so far.”

The travelling expenses were borne by the foundation’s sponsors, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

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