© Daritama. All rights reserved.



House of Hope



In Maltese:
Ara wkoll kitba ta’ Fr. Mark Montebello esklussivament ghall-website:
DARITAMA FI KLIEMI


Your strength, O Lord, does not lie in numbers,
nor your might in strong men;
since you are God of the poor, the help of the oppressed,
the support of the weak, the refuge of the forsaken,
the saviour of those without hope.’

Judith 9:11

WHAT IS DARITAMA?


Solidarity

  • Bormla (also known as Cospicua) is a depressed rural area in Malta. Daritama is a practical mode of investment in the potential of Bormla’s people. Volunteers wishing to give an unpaid contribution in the project get together in solidarity.
  • Solidarity means dedicating part of one’s life in support of the poor and excluded.
  • Daritama is a point of departure for a presence of attention and help. The volunteers’ philosophy and beliefs, whatever they may be, make no difference whatsoever.
  • Daritama is a presence of continual and constant commitment and dedication. In this way, Daritama has no ideology save that of solidarity.

    Getting started

  • Cottonera is the wider district where Bormla is. The dream of Daritama began in 1992 from a sincere wish to do something concrete for the people of Cottonera. We wanted to pass from mere words to tangible facts. The question was how.
  • Everything began in April-May 1993 with a few public discussions. It became clear that we had to do something in Cottonera in aid of those people who needed urgent help.
  • A year later, the dream started to develop. We found a large house at Bormla in which to carry out our work, generous benefactors backed us, and we found great support. At the beginning it was difficult to find the proper means and ways how we could work out our dream. We elaborated a plan, then a project, ... and the stone started rolling. Up to now it has not stopped, ... and nor did we cease dreaming!
  • The story of Daritama is one of mutual faithfulness. Others had faith in us because we chose to b faithful to our people. They were faithful to us because we showed faith in them. This is real. It is the pledge of our authenticity.
  • The story does not stop here. It continues thanks to the many volunteers who continue to give their aid and support.

    THE PHILOSOPHY OF DARITAMA


  • Daritama is where people work and mature together. By way of a common motivation, volunteers feel at home, part of a company, and appreciated.
  • Daritama is a possibility where a spirit of solidarity and friendship can flourish. The binding factor is that volunteers share the same helpfulness. We expect no extraordinary qualities from volunteers. We only ask for the talent of putting one’s capabilities in common. Daritama sees that no volunteer works on his or her own, but always in communion with others.
  • Primarily, Daritama means maturing in the service of others. It prepares volunteers to work within the context of Bormla. We are partners in a common project for the goodwill of others. Our sole aim is to help people mature by coming to know their potentialities.
  • Each volunteer must choose freely what he or she would like to be or would like to do. Each volunteer must choose freely to commit his or herself without feeling privileged or better-off than others.
  • Solidarity is not a job. It is a free and personal attitude of service. It is a way of knowing oneself better by coming to know others, by giving and receiving generously, and by working in communion with others.

    GIVING & RECEIVING AT DARITAMA


    Receiving from Daritama

  • A group of people, mostly youths, with which one can live out his or her voluntary commitment of solidarity.
  • A basic organisation with which each volunteer can accomplish, according to his or her talents and possibilities, voluntary work sensibly.
  • A satisfactory preparation so that volunteers may understand Cottonera better and do their voluntary work faithfully.
  • A proper building where anyone can socialise and build friendships.
  • An atmosphere in which one can put his or her initiatives and ideas amongst others in a spirit of unity.

    Giving at Daritama

  • One or two hours some three times a week and a will to work in group.
  • An interest in Cottonera, in its people, and in the particualar voluntary work undertaken.
  • Respect towards the people met with during voluntary work, and an inspiration to allow these people’s lives change that of the volunteers.
  • Responsibility in one’s voluntary commitment.
  • An attitude that allows volunteers to come out of their individual world and enter the common project of the group.

    LEARNING AND WORKING WITH DARITAMA


    Learning with Daritama

  • Some suppose that voluntary work is giving. Voluntary work is receiving. A volunteer is a person who is capable to receive generously.
  • Foremost, Daritama introduces volunteers to the complex reality of Cottonera, and to the various possibilities of voluntary work in the area.
  • Daritama, though generally governed by a Board, allows each branch of activity to develop according to the desires and feelings of the respective volunteers.

    Working with Daritama

  • First, working with Daritama means spontaneity
  • Daritama organises the volunteers’ talents and good-will. While getting volunteers together, Daritama gives each one sufficient space to develop his or her contribution imaginatively.
  • Each volunteer integrates him or herself within the group. Nobody must do things with a downhearted spirit. It is important that everyone enjoys doing what he or she likes to do.

    WORK AT DARITAMA


    Daritama operates in such a way to offer its resources to persons and organisation who wish to be of some service in Bormla. Effectively, Daritama enters into agreements with whosoever has projects of voluntary work to offer. Daritama studies and shapes the projects so they may meet the special needs of the Cottonera district. It then prepares volunteers to work out these projects.

    Apart from the projects ‘imported’ into the district, Daritama has its undertakings. These include:

  • An energency aid-centre for people in urgent need of support.
  • Educational assistance to primary-level slow-learners (children between 4 and 10) from Cottonera, and to illiterate or quasi-illiterate adults.
  • A community radio for Cottonera (attending to about 50,000 people).
  • A support-group for prisoners and victims of crime.

    GROWING AT DARITAMA


  • Daritama is not a place where people work, but where people grow
  • Very frequently, what volunteers receive from Daritama is totally different from what they would have expected in the beginning.
  • At Daritama volunteers are challenged into becoming open-minded, natural, and strong-willed individuals capable of having their personality and friendship available to others.
  • While understanding other people’s manner of communication, Daritama gives volunteers the opportunity to communicate better with all types of people.
  • Voluntees bring into Daritama all of their former personalities, which sometimes clashes with those of others. At Daritama we try to help volunteers cope with themselves and with others positively and constructively.
  • Hope is the possibility of the future. At Daritama we try to widen that possibility, both for the people we serve at Bormla and the Cottonera district, and for the volunteers themsleves.

    Technical details


    Registered name: Daritama (meaning House of Hope)
    Status: Foundation; Non-government organisation (N.G.O.)
    Formally established: 25th January, 1995
    Co-Founders: Lawrence Ancilleri, Ludgarda Gatt, Gordon Harvey, and Mark Montebello
    Official address: Dar it-Tama, Triq Matty Grima, Bormla (Cottonera) CSP 02, Malta (Europe)
    E-Mail: montebello@gmail.com
    Telephone no.: (+356) 2180 1204
    Fax no./answering machine: (+356) 2180 1205
    Bank account no.: HSBC Bank 040-072266-001
    Official web site: www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/8664/DIT





    • montebello@gmail.com

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