A set of the books Karamellu tar-Raħal t’Isfel was presented to President George Vella by the author, Charles Buttigieg.
The Karamellu stories were inspired by Buttigieg’s childhood experiences and memories of people he used to meet throughout his upbringing in Żejtun’s ‘Ir-Raħal t’Isfel’.
Buttigieg underlined the need for children to appreciate and treasure the Maltese Language and praised the campaign in favour of the Maltese Language, ‘L-Ilsien Malti Għal Qalbi’ launched in 2022 by the Office of the President and Maltese language associations.
The series 'Karamellu tar Raħal t'Isfel' is a collection of three books, with visuals by CN Creative Designs. The stories offer a glimpse of how children and their families lived decades ago in a calm and serene environment where everyone knew everyone else.
Buttigieg, who was the first Refugee Commissioner in Malta, also presented to the president a copy of his book ‘Ir-Refuġjati f’Ħajti’, which tells the story of refugees in Malta from the mid-1980s to the first decade of the millennium.