Circle Jan2018 low

GOOD CAUSES
that I met Claire and Michèle Vella
Distefano, the Foundation’s PR and Events
Organiser.
Rightfully proud of their work, they
began by giving me a tour of their base,
where a number of children were trying
their hand at pottery – an initiative, as I
later discovered, that had won the
President’s Award for Creativity and was
being done in collaboration with the Arts
Council Malta. The lady from Alka Ceramics
who was teaching the children, was joined
by Gabriella Cassar, a trainee clinical
psychologist and Gestalt psychotherapist,
who was there to observe patterns and
behaviour.
“The Centre is open Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays between
2.30 and 6.30pm, all year round,”
Michèle tells me. “Where required,
we also coordinate transport
arrangements for children to
be brought here, as the additional
task of giving children a lift might be
too much for families who are
already dealing with a lot of stress
and commitments.”
The most inspiring things
about the KVF, in fact, are the
attention to detail and its members’
dedication to ensuring that
everyone receives exactly what they
need. Children are given time and space to
practise mindfulness, meditation and
drama, and are offered one-on-one
sessions with a therapist when required.
Those who are older engage in
sessions with Prisms, another NGO that
offers formal and informal learning
opportunities to youth - an activity which
forms part of the ‘adaptive learning’ project
co-financed by Fond Ghall-Ghaqdiet
Volontarji 2016 by the Malca Community
Chest Fund Foundation. And therapy
sessions are occasionally also offered to
parents, too.
“We work on a referral basis, which
means that a family has to be referred by
a professional – be it a teacher, a doctor, a
nurse or a priest,” Claire continues. “This
has been done to ensure that the support
offered is indeed required and to get a
clearer picture of what the child’s family is
going through. We want to ensure that we
offer that child the best possible help we
can give.”
Although small and relatively new,
the Foundation has some big plans for the
future, with new space being developed
just underneath the current base. These,
as Claire and Michèle explained to me, will
help to give older children a place that
appeals more to them. Moreover, they are
now working on turning the yard just in
front of the building into a sports area, as
well as on introducing a social skills
programme for children.
“Taking place over the summer will
be some eight to 10 sessions where the
kids will get to focus on social skills,”
Gabriella, the aforementioned trainee
clinical psychologist, explains. “This will
take various forms, be it roleplay, fun
activities or psychoeducation [a method
of providing children a practical approach
to understanding and coping with the
consequences of their trauma].
“These social skills workshops are
being done by two BSc Psychology
students who will be putting together
different activities for the younger and the
older children, which they can do in a safe
and understanding space,” she concludes.
As it stands, the KVF is unlikely to
run out of eligible candidates anytime
soon but, on top of its stellar
work, it’s the raising of awareness
of how children are affected by
traumas in the family that
makes its existence all the more
valuable. At a time when a family’s
fabric is being held together by a
thread, the KVF is there to offer a
helping hand and support to the
family’s most vulnerable members
– and that is exactly what makes
this foundation so worthy of
support.
To apply for help, to
volunteer or to donate, please visit
www.karlvellafoundation.org
34Sunday Circle ∫ JANUARY 2018