On Saturday the public will be asked to dig deep into their pockets and help the less fortunate during the annual charity marathon, L-Istrina. The President's wife and deputy chairman of the Malta Community Chest Fund Mary Fenech Adami tells Cynthia Busuttil why people should be generous.
Anyone who has watched L-Istrina in the past few years is bound to recall the heart-rending footage narrating the stories of those in need of financial help to see them through difficult times.
If these images are startling and make people recognise the suffering of others, they are much closer to home for Ms Fenech Adami, whose role as First Lady includes meeting those who turn to the Malta Community Chest Fund for help.
Many of those who know Ms Fenech Adami describe her as a people person, someone who always has a kind word for others. And it is easy to realise why many see the President's wife as a caring human being - from the first words she utters during the interview it is evident that she empathises with those who are in pain. She remembers patients and their ailments vividly, and talks about them with affection.
She looks upon her role in the MCCF as an integral part of her duty as the President's wife. Moreover, she says, since the President has had a close connection with charitable organisations throughout his career in public office, she was well aware of what the job would entail even before becoming involved in the organisation herself.
Now that she comes in close contact with people in need, has her perspective of the MCCF's work changed?
"Not really," she says. "I lived my life around people and know the trials and tribulations that life holds and I've always tried to help others.
"In the past 44 years, for as long as I have been married, I don't think a day has gone by without being stopped in the street by someone who needs help," she says.
Has this trend continued since she moved to San Anton Palace?
"Of course," she exclaims. "Whoever wants you, will find you, irrespective of where you're living." However, she is quick to add that she still spends time at the family home in Birkirkara and insists that nothing much has changed since her husband and former Prime Minister, Eddie Fenech Adami, was nominated President in 2004.
However, far from being annoyed at the requests, she is full of understanding: "People do not ask for help for nothing, but because they really need something. Obviously, you cannot always help everyone, but sometimes even a word helps.
"I am very patient, and always ask God to give me more patience. I enjoy helping people. You forget about yourself and focus on helping someone else. I feel more relaxed accompanying someone on a hospital visit than going for a walk with them because I feel like I'm doing something for someone else."
If Ms Fenech Adami enjoys spending time with people, it appears that they like her company too. She relates how a patient who will soon be flying to the UK for surgery and who asked her to visit him before he leaves, just in case he fails to make it through the operation.
"I told him not to dwell on negative things and instead focus on getting better," she says.
She sounds touched at the gratitude shown by those who receive help from the MCCF. "When we come face to face with those who needed our help, they all thank us and show their appreciation.
"I always thank God that the country is doing well enough to enable people to be generous and allow us to help others," she notes. She appeals to the Maltese to continue to show their generosity, something they have always done throughout the years.
"The MCCF is there to help those in need and it's important that people are generous to enable us to continue lending a hand. Medical problems have increased and there are many who need our assistance."
Fresh from a recent visit to hospitals in the UK, where she met with a number of Maltese patients receiving treatment, Ms Fenech Adami is evidently moved.
"There were two babies, both the first born. Can you imagine the trauma that their parents must be going through?"
Some 15 families were staying with the Franciscan Sisters in London, who receive funding from the MCCF to take care of the relatives of Maltese patients receiving treatment in the UK. And another 15 arrived on the day Ms Fenech Adami left Britain.
She points out that patients rarely travel on their own. The MCCF helps the relatives of patients who need treatment abroad with their travelling expenses as well as accommodation, food and transport - something that is not covered by the Government.
"Normally a family member travels with them. It is a trauma to be there on your own, a huge trauma. There are people who have been there for months. Sometimes they return to Malta for a while and then have to return to London for treatment.
"It's very difficult to spend time separated from your family, receiving treatment in a foreign country. Some do not even speak or understand English. One man, who has been in London for six months, was so happy when I went to speak to him. He said 'thank God I'm hearing someone talk to me in Maltese'. He does not understand a word of English and, of course, barely anybody in the hospital speaks Maltese.
"And it is not easy to understand medical jargon, even if they can speak English."
She says that two Maltese priests based in London often visit their fellow countrymen in hospital and act as translators between medical professionals and their patients. They leave a note for the doctors on the patient's bedside table to list points about the medical condition, which they can translate for the patient or relatives.
One of the priests, she adds, got a raw deal when he fell sick after contracting a virus from a Maltese baby he used to visit. They put themselves at risk when they spend so much time in hospital.
It is not only patients seeking overseas treatment who resort to the MCCF for help. Every year the organisation receives an increasing number of requests from patients who need money to fund costly drugs or treatment which is not subsidised by the Government.
"What else can they do if they are unable to buy them? Some cancer treatments, especially, cost a lot. Health-related expenses remain of the highest priority for us."
She wonders how patients can afford expensive medicine, some of which costs around Lm2 a day. Meanwhile, certain treatments for cancer run into thousands of liri.
This year, the MCCF helped more than 550 people with medical treatment overseas. It also distributed Lm466,344 to another 3,000 people, apart from Lm28,226 donated to various philanthropic associations and institutes.
Some patients need specialised equipment, like wheelchairs, beds and lifters. Electric wheelchairs give those with a disability freedom, the opportunity to move from one place to another. Ms Fenech Adami makes reference to two young men, whom she sees moving around on their electric wheelchairs.
"Sometimes I see them trying to meander through traffic and worry that they are about to get hit by a car. But at least (the electric wheelchairs) gave them a new take on life, giving them the possibility to go out on their own."
During its most recent trip to London, the MCCF assisted a 21-year-old man, who lost both his legs, to visit a prosthesis centre. The specialist has now decided to travel to Malta to fit him with the prosthetics and Ms Fenech Adami is overjoyed as the patient is spared from travelling abroad.
Nevertheless, despite the suffering she encounters, she is quick to turn the conversation around. Her laughter is infectious as she describes how during a recent fund-raising event for the MCCF, some people ended up buying back the items that they had brought to sell.
It is not only the public which is generous, but even businessmen who frequently answer the organisation's calls for help.
Just before the interview, Ms Fenech Adami was at St John's Co-Cathedral to attend Mass organised for schoolchildren to launch the MCCF's campaign Milied Flimkien.
The event also included a display of Christmas cribs, which are sold to raise money for the organisation. "There was one made solely out of nuts. Initially I thought it was a silver crib, but when I looked closer I realised it was one nut next to another. It's quite amazing."
She pays attention to detail and is clearly infatuated with young children. She describes how the young boy playing the part of Joseph in the pageant did not let go of his 'Mary' for a second.
"He kept his arm around her waist throughout; it was extremely sweet," she smiles.
L-Istrina will be held on Saturday, kicking off at midday. The 12-hour fundraising marathon will be broadcast on TVM, One TV and Net TV.