Sarah Carabott revisits some of last year’s inspirational stories of charity, strong will and success.

The chef who feeds the hungry

As businesses scrambled to remain afloat after the coronavirus reached Malta in March, chef Rafel Sammut launched a ‘victory kitchen’ to feed hungry families.

Nine months on, Sammut says that, together with his team, he should continue feeding people into the coming months, if not years, as the country recovers from the pandemic.

What started off as feeding one family a day has increased to 1,200 meals a week, prepared at Sammut’s closed restaurant in Valletta.

Produce is provided by companies such as Lidl or funded by foundations like the Happy Initiative, which is supporting local NGOs that ran short of funds or resources due to the pandemic. Meals are distributed to vulnerable people by charities or eCabs.

In August, Sammut extended the altruistic initiative beyond our shores. He joined fellow chef Hany Harb and other colleagues to cook for the survivors of the blast that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

“We gave very little but did the best we could, distributing food to homeless people and joining the World Central Kitchen to help prepare thousands of meals every day,” he said.

One moment that Sammut will always remember is a brief conversation he had with an old man sitting outside a shop.

“He told me that he had lost everything in 30 seconds because his country was a product of 30 years of heavy corruption. You could see layers of pain in his eyes. He was broken,” Sammut said.

“Looking ahead I have learnt not to take anything for granted. Be appreciative and grateful for what you have as you never know where you will be in 30 years.”

Record-breaking swim 

People had spent months locked indoors and morale was dipping in June when anti-pollution activist Neil Agius became the second person in recorded history to swim between Sicily and Malta.

His feat, achieved in a record-breaking 28 hours, seven minutes and 27 seconds, turned the headlines into positive, inspiring ones.

A few months later, Agius pulled his friend, Michel Galea, across the Gozo-Malta channel on a stand-up paddleboard, this time encouraging others to take up the challenge to lose weight.

Galea’s own weight loss challenge started on January 2, documented on social media by Wave of Change Malta, a movement founded by Agius.

Through its events, campaigns and challenges, the movement raises awareness about issues such as pollution, obesity and inclusion.

“Malta has been going through a rough patch and the swim motivated and inspired many. That, for me, is the best thing I can take from it,” Agius said.

“2021 will be a new year with big challenges and goals not only for myself but also for Wave of Change.

“We will be working harder than ever to continue to inspire people and I want to push myself further by doing a longer swim. I’m excited.”

The new Maltese cardinal

As 2020 drew to a close, many people remained glued to their screens to see history in the making: Bishop Mario Grech becoming the first Gozitan and only the third Maltese national to be appointed cardinal.

The former Gozo bishop and now secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, recalls that it took just minutes for his friends in Malta to contact him following the pope’s announcement about the new cardinals on October 25 at noon.

During the consistory on November 28, presided by Pope Francis, he led 12 other men who were appointed cardinals alongside him.

What is one thing he will always remember about this appointment?

“That, for God, even insignificant elements (like me) count. Everyone, irrespective of one’s origin, can make a contri-bution,” he told Times of Malta, urging people “to open their heart to Jesus” in the new year as “He has the good news”.

A migrant’s epic journey

In summer, Samuel Maker told his story about living in a camp with no shoes on his feet, fleeing a war that killed his father, crossing the Sahara, hitch-hiking through Libya, lying about his origins to stay alive and spending over two days at sea… all from a burning desire to study.

While he will never forget how COVID-19 brought the whole world to its knees just months after his arrival in Malta, aged 18, he will also remember how 2020 made his dream of one day becoming a doctor a little more realistic.

Maker, who fled South Sudan aged 12, has started a foundation course in applied sciences at MCAST and feels he is doing well.

He now hopes that, in 2021, he will be granted asylum in Malta, allowing him to continue with his studies, which are also being supported by humanitarian NGOs such as the Jesuit Refugee Service, KOPIN and MOAS.

An MEP’s singular achievement

When Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola was elected first vice-president of the European Parliament in November it was to the most senior role ever occupied in that institution by a Maltese.  

The very first thing she did after the result was to sign three letters.

“One was to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s parents reiterating my promise to do all I can to help in the fight for justice for their murdered daughter,” she said.

“Another was to Anne Agius Ferrante, who was the first elected female Nationalist MP, to thank her for forging a path that enabled me to find a way through.”

I hope 2021 will be the year for justice in Malta

And a third letter was to a girls’ school in Ħamrun that she had visited a few months before “to encourage them to never let Malta’s geographic realities limit their potential”.

Metsola recalls that, as she was experiencing several emotions after the election, she received a call from her second son. “I answered with a big smile, fully expecting a congratulatory call and what I got instead was an ‘urgent’ reminder for me to help him with his Maltese homework.

“Any parent will tell you there is nothing that will bring you crashing back down to reality quicker than a distinctly unimpressed child,” she said.

What are her hopes for 2021?

“If ‘crisis’ was the keyword for 2020, ‘recovery’ must be the one for 2021. I hope it will be the year for justice in Malta and the year we start to repair our standing on the world stage.

“On a European level, one of the major challenges we will face is the post-COVID scenario… I want European resilience to become an example to the world. That means ensuring a smooth rollout of the vaccine and ensuring funds are made available for those who need them.”

It will also be the year of working on the Green Deal, the rule of law, “tough decisions” on migration and “a system that is fair with those in need of protection”, Metsola said.