Victims of domestic violence, homeless increase over Christmas
David Darmanin
Christmas may as well be a time of merriment for many, but it is also a time of abandonment for others, directors of leading shelters for the homeless told MaltaToday.
“The likelihood is that pain increases for many residents during Christmas time,” YMCA Valletta Chairman Jean-Paul Mifsud said. YMCA’s Dar Niki Cassar currently cares for 16 homeless persons – including seven children and two parentless minors. “Most residents try to spend their Christmas in the most normal way possible. But when it comes to homeless children in particular, Christmas does not have the same significance as those living in the so-called ‘normal home environment’.”
This Friday, YMCA staff and volunteers will organise Christmas lunch followed by a party in the evening, with supplies coming from benefactors and food importers. Unless their safety is compromised, residents are also encouraged to attend Christmas mass on the day.
Traditionally, the YMCA Valletta chairman dresses up as Father Christmas and distributes presents to destitute children every year. “We’re keeping the tradition this year, but I hope Father Christmas will have enough presents for everyone this time around,” hinting at the dire state of resources the shoe-string budget organisation runs on.
“As happens every year, our caseload increases during Christmas,” he said. “Unfortunately this year we are also seeing to a number of children that were abandoned by their families. The situation in the country has an affect on those who are in the lower rungs of society. Even though poverty is quite invisible in Malta, its effects are surely being felt.”
Diocesan Commission for Children’s Homes Director Mgr Victor Zammit McKeon, who runs 11 shelters hosting a total of 200 children and victims of domestic violence, agrees with Mifsud about the tendency to have a higher influx of social cases during the festive season.
“I have just been informed of a case where a young person was invited to leave her family home. It happens during this season, even with children who are at times abandoned temporarily,” he said. “We are now expecting an influx of new cases to deal with, as happens every year, so we are always on call.”
Zammit McKeon explained that it is understandable that during this time of the year, family pressure mounts because “we all want to do the same things others do, and this could create conflicts.”
He said that “commercial pressures” during Christmas “make us expect to have things we cannot necessarily have.”
Turning it onto himself as an example, Zammit McKeon said: “Even I feel very much under pressure during Christmas. To be honest, I still have doubts on how spiritually prepared I am.”
The majority of children in church homes spend Christmas day at respite foster carers or with members of their extended families.
“But others, around 20 of them, remain at the facilities. We do our outmost to create a family environment on the day. We take them to Christmas mass, we organise a Christmas lunch and distribute presents from under the tree, just like at home. In the evening, we then take them out for a walk. Some families that are victims of domestic violence stay at the shelter for safety reasons.”
For donations or voluntary work, YMCA Valletta may be contacted on 2122 8038 and the Diocesan Commission on 2122 1615.
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