Watch: Maltese Foster Mother Opens Up About Challenging But Rewarding Experience One Year On
One year after taking the plunge and becoming a foster mother, a Maltese woman participated in a TV program to discuss her experience.
During a discussion show on Realta’ this week, Pamela Schembri said that she and her husband Manuel decided to foster a child around a year ago and initially assumed it wouldn’t be for longer than a month.
They underwent a training course and were eventually given a fostering placement with a young girl, aged three and a half, who lived in a religious institution since birth.
Although Pamela and Manuel wanted to take the girl home with them as soon as they met her, the fostering process was a gradual one.
“She was very receptive towards us the first time we met, as though she had known us for a long time,” Pamela said. “Two days later we met her again, and the sisters told me that just because we’re meeting her again doesn’t mean she will end up living with us.”
“However, we asked her if she wants to join us for a drive and she said yes immediately.”
As the girl was raised by nuns, her encounter with Manuel was one of the first times she had come into close contact with an adult man and she was clearly fascinated.
“She started grabbing my husband’s beard as though it were something she was seeing for the very first time,” she recounted.
While Pamela had words of praise for the nuns who initially raised the girl, she noticed significant progress in her development, including her speech and movement, over the past year.
And the girl’s affection for her foster parents has clearly grown; Pamela said that while she addresses them by their first names at home, she sometimes calls them “Mum and Dad” in front of other people.
Pamela is acutely aware that fostering isn’t permanent and that the girl, now five years old, could return to her birth parents one day.
“I’m not concerned that she could return to her birth parents if they’re ready to look after her and provide her with necessities; I’d be concerned if they aren’t ready.”
“Even if you have your own children, they could get involved in an accident and suddenly leave you, so it’s best to live day by day.”
“Her parents are ultimately her parents, but even if they welcome her back, I will look back at this experience and know she made enormous steps over the past year because we could focus on her development.”
Pamela concluded by stating that her goal behind speaking out wasn’t to soak up praise but to encourage other people to foster children too.
Cover photo: Left: Pamela Schembri, Right: Stock photo
Would you ever consider fostering a child?