After dedicating their lives to caring for children living in residential care, 12 elderly nuns will retire in an environment that “feels like home” as two apartments are being prepared for them at Angela House in Guardamangia.
“These sisters spent their lives caring for children in our various residential homes. They are like grandmothers to them and they deserve to retire in a place that feels like home. So we decided to integrate them with us by preparing two apartments for them and we hope they will join us by March,” says Sister Magdalene Cauchi, the mother superior of Angela House, the children’s home run by the Ursuline sisters.
The home currently houses 28 children between the ages of two and 13. The children live in three family groups. Each group have their own apartment where they are cared for by a nun with the support of volunteers. The children’s apartments had been refurbished over the past few years.
Sr Michaela Paris and Sr Magdalene Cauchi at Angela House during refurbishment works of two of the children’s apartments in 2013.They are like grandmothers to them and they deserve to retire in a place that feels like home
Earlier this year the sisters at Angela House embarked on a major project to refurbish the two top-floor apartments to house the 12 retired sisters as well as install a lift. As they removed the soffit to the apartments’ rooms, they found that the ceiling was extensively damaged.
“We were not prepared for this expense. But we could not risk leaving the ceiling in such a dangerous state,” Sr Magdalene said. The sisters are now calling on the public to help them cover what remains of the €50,000 worth of unplanned works that included replacing the ceilings and other repair works on 1,400 square metres of roof. The works were completed in summer but not all have been paid for yet.
“Now we want to get the bill off our mind,” she said, adding that, once that was done, they still had to furnish the apartments to house the retired nuns who are currently living in different convents.
“We wanted to integrate them with us. They can no longer look after children, but they now deserve to be looked after,” she said.
To support Angela House you can find more details on the Facebook Page Friends of Angela House.