Mcast students yesterday used their skills to pamper women victims of domestic violence or other social problems. Photos: Matthew Mirabelli

Susan* passes her hand through her freshly dyed hair and then runs her fingers over her face to wipe the tear she did not manage to hold back.

“I feel that I look decent now. Being able to feel like a woman makes me feel happy,” she says as she explains that, over the past few years, looking after herself was last on her priority list.

A single mother in her 60s, she is one of the victims of domestic violence who were yesterday pampered by hairdressing and beauty students at the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology.

Her experience has toughened her up and she is initially suspicious about sharing her story, despite her anonymity. But at one point into the conversation she opens up.

“My son used to beat me and I never opened my mouth because I didn’t want to get him into trouble. But I could no longer take it. I knocked Dar Merħba Bik’s door and they opened and saved my life,” she says, shedding that single tear.

The makeover activity yesterday was organised by Mcast’s Institute of Community Services in collaboration with HSBC Malta Foundation. Voluntary organisations were invited to join and these included St Jeanne Antide Foundation, Dar Merħba Bik, Dar Qalb Ta’ Ġesu, the Domestic Violence Unit within Appoġġ and Prison Fellowship.

They are given the opportunity to remember who they were before the abuse

Maria Gatt and Elaine Pavia, who help run Dar Merħba Bik, explain victims of domestic violence often lose their self-esteem and need to be reminded that they can look and feel good.

“The perpetrator often puts down the victim and keeps telling her how worthless and unattractive she is until she starts to believe it. So such an initiative really helps them realise it is not the case,” Ms Gatt says. Her colleague adds: “They are given the opportunity to remember who they were before the abuse.”

Stojanka Stevanovic, originally from Montenegro, strongly agrees with them.

“When I went to the home I was very, very sad,” she says in a broken accent. She was beaming yesterday when she got her hair and make-up done. “I feel good, very good.”

The feel-good factor also spreads to the students who enjoy seeing their special clients’ transformation. Annabel Micallef, a student, says it is a great experience to be able to help women who went through such hardships and, at the same time, practise what she is learning.

When Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca visited the Mcast salons she was greeted with hugs, kisses and tears by women she had crossed paths with before.

Ms Coleiro Preca, who will soon become president, was visibly emotional as she spoke to those she worked hard to support her during her tenure as minister.

“You make me proud,” she told the people there before the left.

*Name was changed to protect her identity.