A project titled Memorja – The Pandemic 2020 Experience aims to record the public’s personal experience of the COVID-19 crisis. Charles Farrugia, CEO and national archivist, speaks to Fiona Vella about this initiative.

Personal diaries are cherished by researchers and historians since they present unique first-hand perspectives of significant moments in history that are seldom available in official historical records.

Candles and flowers placed in front of St Sebastion’s statue in Qormi as a sign of devotion to the saint to protect the people from the epidemic.

The candid quality of such writing is the closest thing to actually being there, at that moment in time, when that particular person decided to document her or his thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams and questions about the future.

Diaries may indeed serve to close the distance between the time when these narratives are written down and the period in which they are read.

These extraordinary days we are currently living make ideal material for such diaries. It doesn’t take much more than to hear about the thousands of people who are losing their lives daily and to watch Pope Francis’s solitary prayers at St Peter’s Square, in front of a miraculous wooden cross that was used during the 1522 plague in Rome, to realise that this is a time for heroes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought our fast-paced life to a sudden halt, confining us indoors for our safety. Yet, in a time when we are forced to keep our distance from others, the National Archives of Malta is appealing to people to keep a diary in an effort to ensure that persons born within 50 years from now may look closely at what we went through during this pandemic.

“Memorja is a project run by the National Archives of Malta aimed at documenting the experiences of the public coming from a variety of backgrounds,” explained Charles Farrugia, CEO and national archivist.

“We have already worked on a number of themes such as wartime experiences, Malta buses, expatriates, bell-ringing and other aspects. While the holdings of any national archives worldwide are rich in public records, they often lack the human experience. Therefore, through this oral history project, we are filling in the gaps in public memory.”

Shopping from a grocery store in Rabat during the pandemic.

There are always two-sides to a story, if not more. National archives have fulfilled the role of preserving the official documentation of nations for a number of centuries. However, it is only during the last decades that these institutions started gradually opening up their doors for private records.

“Private records often recount the same stories from a different perspective. So, for future historians, diaries preserve the feelings, emotions and perspectives of the people rather than those of the functionaries of the state.”

Diaries serve as a communication tool and require a certain level of discipline in terms of consistency and effort to keep going.

“Keeping a diary has a personal value. Most diaries end up in private residences and at most are passed on to relatives after their authors pass away. Through this project, we are giving an opportunity for the personal happenings of ordinary people to be preserved for posterity.”

In the last years, the National Archives of Malta had the opportunity to commemorate a number of anniversaries, such as the plague of 1813 and the Spanish Flu.

“We published a number of documents that were related to lockdowns, social distancing and fumigation which took place during past pestilences and pandemics. The public record is well-documented. However, there is a scarcity when it comes to personal accounts. This is in part due to the level of literacy in those times and the fact that writing and documenting was to some extent an elitist process,” Farrugia said.

While the holdings of any national archives worldwide are rich in public records, they often lack the human experience

“With today’s social media and high-level of literacy, it is much easier to document for posterity. Therefore, keeping a record of one’s daily life during the current pandemic has a dual role – it can serve as a therapy to whoever has a story to tell and it can also serve as a generous act of memory sharing with future generations.”

The diaries which will be received for the project Memorja − The Pandemic 2020 Experience − will be kept as part of the National Archives’ private deposits, potentially being used in future events. 

“We are asking participants to write as much or as little as they feel like each day but we would like them to write something every day. Ideally, the journals will capture the spirit of this unprecedented experience, the bright and difficult sides of daily life,” Farrugia pointed out.

“We are asking people to donate their diary to the National Archives when the pandemic is over. Donors can discuss with us about the issue of closure periods in case some participants would want to close their accounts for a specified period of time.”

Before the pandemic, Memorja was employing face-to-face video recorded interviews as its main memory-capture tool. Pre-interviews were held and specific interviews were designed. The face-to-face interviews used to be recorded and following their completion, these were transcribed.

A COVID-19 checkpoint before entering the premises of a private hospital.

The current project requires a different approach. The first phase will consist in this call for diaries. A further phase will involve virtual interviews, in which volunteers will be asked to be interviewed. They are particularly interested in interviewing patients, health care workers, administrators and all those who were involved in the management of this pandemic.

“Everyone has a story. There are extensive categories of persons, not necessarily working in health care, that have been affected. Teachers and lecturers had to adjust their methods of teaching. Students also, and with schoolchildren, even parents had to adapt their daily routine,” Farrugia added.

The National Archives are actually after feelings and emotions of people during the pandemic.

“We do not want to put too much restrictions on the participants. However, if the method of documenting does not make a difference to participants, typed diaries are preferred. Even when it comes to the use of language, we will accept diaries in both Maltese and English and any other language in which the writers feel comfortable to communicate in,” Farrugia noted.

Client restrictions at a pharmacy in Mosta.

“In archives, we are very much used to the challenge of preserving the document as created. We know that with today’s media this is rather challenging. However, it is part of our profession. So, we will be happy to try and preserve diaries that include a diversity of expressive media – photos, drawings, cuttings and other items that have relevance to the content. We have also been approached by schools who are doing their own projects which they would like to deposit in the future.”

Some experts believe that writing down one’s experiences during these remarkable days may serve as a stress relief and also to keep in good mental health.

“We believe that any activity that makes people express themselves is healthy. This is even more so at a time when the main tool against the pandemic is social distancing,” Farrugia said.

“Before COVID 19, there was already the concern that we had become distanced and isolated from each other. The current situation has simply pronounced this isolation. Writing down one’s experiences has to be viewed as a way to overcome personal distancing. We also emphasise that this writing will make connections with future generations, and therefore, its bridge building value will be long enduring.

“After the pandemic, we will issue more notices asking for the deposits to be made in a structured manner. This is an experiment that will depend a lot on the take-up by the public. We do not wish to be restrictive and if humanly possible, we will accept all the material received.”

Those who are interested to take part in this project should immediately inform the National Archives that they intend to deposit their diaries. Contact is to be made via the e-mail customercare.archives@gov.mt.