Circle Jan2018 low

GOOD CAUSES
HELPING
CHILDREN
THROUGH
TRAUMA
CLAIRE CHIRCOP TELLS IGGY FENECH HOW ONE MAN’S BATTLE WITH
ILLNESS LED TO THE BIRTH OF THE KARL VELLA FOUNDATION, AN
NGO THAT FILLED A VOID VERY FEW HAD REALISED EXISTED.
When I was three years old, my five-monthold
brother passed away in his sleep. I don’t
recall much of what happened that
morning or in the days and months that
ensued, but I have little doubt that from
finding the courage to plan the funeral to
putting away his jars of uneaten baby food,
each step of that journey must have been
utterly traumatic for my parents and my
teenage brothers.
Nevertheless, it took me well over a
decade to realise that my three-year-old
self must have also experienced the shock
and the devastation of that event. I mean,
how could he not? Everything had changed
overnight for a child who could neither
understand the complexity of the situation
nor express how he felt exactly but could,
nonetheless, feel the depth of the emotions
he was surrounded with.
It was for that reason that when I
went to HQ of the Karl Vella Foundation
(KVF), it felt a lot more personal than I
thought it would. See, the KVF’s main role
is to help children aged between five and 17
to deal with major traumas in the family, be
they a death, a sudden accident or a
chronic or terminal illness – all at no cost to
the families.
Set up in May 2014, the Foundation is
named after Karl Vella, a man who made
headlines through his courageous battle
with cancer. Unfortunately, he lost that
battle, but not before gaining the friendship
Claire Chircop
32Sunday Circle ∫ JANUARY 2018