University students Chiara Testone and Matthew Cassar tell Claire Caruana how their volunteering experience abroad left an indelible impression on them.
Come June, most students will be eager to get their final exams out of the way and settle into a routine consisting solely of working summer jobs and having fun. After months of struggling to meet deadlines and sitting for hours in lecture halls, the peace of mind that comes with the summer holidays is welcomed with open arms.
Chiara Testone and Matthew Cassar, both students at the University of Malta, wanted to do something more worthwhile with their free time and so decided to spend a few weeks volunteering abroad.
Chiara Testone
Chiara Testone, 23, who is reading for a Master’s degree in translation, describes herself as a “globetrotter”. She has a habit of spending her savings on small adventures around Europe. In 2012, she decided to join a group of university students on a voluntary trip to Palermo. Organised by the University Chaplaincy, the group spent a month in Sicily helping the Missionaries of Charity organise a summer camp for children in the areas of Branaccio and Guadagna.
“A year before I went to Sicily, a friend of mine had gone on a similar trip to Naples and she just couldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had and what an impact the trip had on her,” she says.
“Before that, my mother always encouraged me to try out such an experience. So in 2012, together with a friend of mine, I decided to spend part of my summer holidays volunteering abroad. It was something I just had to experience,” she says.
Her day would start off at the crack of dawn, celebrating mass with the nuns before heading off to the camp.
“We would have around 70 children, all very high-spirited and we would need to find creative ways of entertaining them. We designed crafts, played games and even took them on outings.
“The main aim of organising this camp is to try and show these children that there is a different life than the one they live, which is usually filled with poverty, violence and abuse. Most of their parents are unloving and selfish. The camp serves as a distraction from the tough reality they have to constantly endure.”
I learnt to appreciate simplicity, true friendship, loyalty, faith, trusting in God, being grateful of my family’s love and most of all believing in myself
Testone admits that the situation there was a far cry from what she had expected. When she was much younger, she had done some voluntary work with a local group yet this was nothing like what she faced in Sicily.
“I thought the experience would be similar, but turned out to be completely different.
“You see poverty everywhere: shops that have closed down for business, unemployed men and women sitting in front of their small houses, laundry hanging to dry in the middle of the street and, worst of all, children in ragged clothes running around.
“It was definitely a shock and it felt like we had entered a different reality.”
She says the toughest part of her experience was trying to earn the respect of the children she was working with.
“I had a group of girls I just couldn’t handle. We couldn’t even complete a single craft. I remember discussing it with one of the nuns. She told me that I was there to be a role model, not to control them. At the time, I couldn’t really understand what she meant.
“So I decided to change my attitude. I relaxed a little and started having more fun with them instead of scolding them all the time. On the last day, one of the girls came up to me and told me that she considered me to be her big sister.”
Testone says coming back home was much harder than she thought it would be.
“My priorities had completely changed. The things I believed to be important before turned out to be futile. I learnt to appreciate simplicity, true friendship, loyalty, faith, trusting in God, being grateful of my family’s love and most of all believing in myself.”
Her experience also proved fruitful in her studies. She came to value self-discipline and good planning which made studying easier and helped her achieve her goals.
“Voluntary work helps you discover your true self while instilling lifelong values.”
Matthew Cassar
Matthew Cassar, 19, is a second year law student. Always up for a challenge, last year he joined a group of students on a month-long trip to Naples, organised by the University Chaplaincy.
The group helped the sisters of Mother Teresa with their annual summer camp. Here children are treated to a month of love and affection − something that is usually lacking in their lives − through various activities and outings.
This experience can lead any person, student or not, to view the world in a different light
In the past, Cassar had to opportunity to do some voluntary work while attending St Aloysius Sixth Form and this motivated him to seek a similar experience while at university.
“The opportunity to use my time to do good became something I really wanted to pursue,” he says.
Cassar admits that the expectations he had before heading on the trip were, “Rocked to their foundations” upon arriving in Naples and coming to terms with the bleak reality there.
“My initial thoughts revolved around embracing a new culture, not only the social culture but also the culture that comes about from living within a community of nuns. This reality was very different from what I’m used to in Malta,” he says, adding that he tried hard to adapt to the situation there so as to make the most of his opportunity to help out.
Asked about particular experiences that might have had an effect on him, Cassar says that, “Drawing out a single experience would not paint a fair picture of the whole experience.
“It was more a cluster of small things that really left their mark. I was impressed with the devotion shown by the affectionate nuns and the strength of their bond with God. In a moment of pure and utter hopelessness, the nuns would be quick to offer reassurance.”
Cassar admits that forming part of a community, much different than the one he is accustomed to, was probably the toughest challenge he faced while in Naples.
“There, day-to-day issues that would normally be of minimal importance took on a significant role. You can no longer think of just yourself but you need to think of the interests of the group.
“This may be quite difficult especially since you are surrounded by a new environment, new people and new realities and do not have the natural comforts of home. But this really lets you escape your comfort zone and allows you to grow in unexpected ways,” he says.
Living in this new community instilled in Cassar a number of values which he carried back home.
“From the children I worked with I learnt that we take so much for granted. Things that we assume everybody has, these children lack. This sense of appreciation really changes the way you lead your life and how to react to different situations. You become much more responsive to the needs of others.”
Cassar says that the trip to Naples offered more in return than what the group offered the children.
“Of the many things I managed to pick up in Naples, I found that I can be much more of an organised person, both in form and in substance.
“A lack of responsible organisation would have meant a significant degradation on the performance of the rest of the community. Your actions and choices do not only embody the outcome of the hard work the team is doing but also the burdens the team must take upon itself as a result of such actions.
“This proved to be very helpful in my studies. The life of a student, just like any other stage in the process of life, is not always easy. The work I did in Naples really helped me combat certain difficult moments and it gave me a level of maturity and problem-solving attitude few other experiences can give.”
Cassar encourages other students to try experience voluntary work abroad.
“It allows you to embark on a journey of growth. Essentially this experience can lead any person, student or not, to view the world in a different light.
“It also gives you the courage to take a stand and be the change you want to see in this world.”