Katarina, 17, and Rebecca, 15, Agius Jager are the daughters of Malta’s Ambassador to Russia, Pierre Clive Agius. Their lives follow that of their father, as they attend important diplomatic and international events, move from one country to the other, volunteer at different organisations and learn new languages and cultures.

Having an ambassador as your dad gets busy but is also very exciting. Nothing ever stays the same. It’s ever changing and sometimes really tough. This is what keeps it interesting though - the challenges and getting to know the world from a different perspective in general.

Our behaviour must be appropriate in all situations. Often, people don’t see us, what they see are the ‘children of the Maltese Ambassador’. We need to be extra careful about what we post on social media and how we act in public spaces, because we don’t just represent but also our father and our country.  It makes it harder to relax or take a step back sometimes, but at the end of the day we are very honoured to be representing Malta.

Katarina and Rebecca meeting Former president Obama with their parents in February 2016

We will never forget when we met President Obama at the White House. He wanted to talk to us more than with our father. He wanted to know our ages and compared us to his own daughters.

Moving country is a mix of emotions. You feel scared and anxious, excited and shocked. Sometimes, the news is unexpected and you don’t really get the time to properly prepare for it. It’s a very stressful time - having to say goodbye to friends, promising we will stay in touch, knowing it’s not really going to be the same and that everything is going to change.

Russian is by far the hardest language we have had to learn. Even the alphabet is different. We’ve always attended English speaking schools. Russia is a whole different story; it takes some getting used to. Russia is truly a wonderful country, it’s very cultured, very beautiful and safe. Our favourite language is French, we’ve been studying it ever since living in Paris, our favourite city.a

We have to be very knowledgeable about Malta because we are asked all sorts of questions about our country. As daughter of an ambassador we are required to go to special events and receptions, often being the youngest people there.

Making new friendships can be quite daunting. Even though we’ve done it several times, the night before our first day of school is always nerve-wracking. But so far people have always been extremely welcoming and kind to us. Keeping friends is the hardest part, because of how often we move country.

Katarina and Rebecca doing a home theatre play at the English club of Russian State Children's Library in Moscow

We realise how fortunate we are and try to give back as much as possible. We are both junior ambassadors of UNICEF and we volunteer at different organisations. Since moving to Moscow, we joined the Children’s library where we teach English. We participated in different theatre plays, raised money at fundraisers and performed at other social events.