Sr Denise Vassallo carefully rearranges an array of framed photos resting on a wooden table in Dar Sagra Familja, Żabbar.
The children can’t do without us – and we can’t do without them
The photos depict happy children of all ages going about their lives. In one, a boy is receiving his first Holy Communion; in another, two kids chase each other in a garden.
To these children, Dar Sagra Familja is both a house and a family. But unless the nuns running the home manage to raise the €6,000 needed to repair structural damage to the building’s ceilings, the children’s day-to-day lives risk upheaval.
Ceilings in seven of the home’s rooms are in dire need of repair as cracks widen and spread.
In one case, an angry fissure almost an inch wide screams for attention.
“We’ve been told we need to fix the ceilings as a matter of urgency and, in fact, we’ve emptied out the rooms as much as we could in preparation.
“But we just don’t have the money,” said Sr Bernardette Galea, the provincial of the Sisters of St Joseph and temporary head of Dar Sagra Familja.
The imposing building dominates a square adjacent to Żabbar’s parish church. More importantly, it plays a pivotal part in the lives of the 11 boys and girls who call it their home.
Many of the children, aged three to 16, are the subject of care orders issued by the authorities.
Caring for them was a full-time job, Sr Bernardette said.
“Some of the children require a lot of attention and, in fact, we’ve had to employ carers because there just aren’t enough of us nuns to do it all.
“The kids can tire you out but they’re all very happy children.”
The children spend the summer months at the order’s Birżebbuġa residence – which also needs repairs – but are due to return to their Żabbar home at the end of the month.
A contractor agreed to carry out the urgent structural repairs without advance payment but the €6,000 bill still has to be paid somehow, Sr Bernardette said.
“We’ve sent letters to some individuals and companies asking for them to help. So far we’ve received a cheque for €150 but I’m convinced that more will come.”
As she and Sr Denise walked around the vacant building, her eyelids brimmed with tears.
“The children are so loving... They just can’t do without you.
“And we can’t do without them. Many of these children have already had a lot of bad luck. It’s their right, and our duty, to see that they have a dignified childhood.”
Anyone interested in helping the nuns safeguard the children’s home can contact Dar Sagra Familja, 25, Mediatrics Place, Żabbar ZBR 1304.