Update. Add the video.

One evening, Sr. Magdalene Cauchi was on night duty at the Sliema crèche when the outside door started to click.

As she called to see what was going on, a man shouted that there was a newborn on the doorstep. He gave her two options: either the nursery would welcome the baby, or he would flush the newborn down the toilet. Sr Magdalene immediately took the baby into her care.

It was just one of many stories experienced by the nuns who, for 119 years, cared for thousands of babies in the home nestled in the heart of Sliema.

As the crèche closes its doors, the Mother General of the Ursuline Sisters speaks for the first time of her plan to transform it and give it new life.

The closure of the care home on February 7 is in line with EU policies, which call for the deinstitutionalisation of children under three.

Efforts are being made by EU countries to ensure that as many children as possible are brought up in family environments rather than in institutions.

Sr Magdalene admits that a “silence fell over the house” when the crèche closed.

“We cried. We consoled ourselves. But, with a past like ours, when you think of the number of babies and families who have benefited from our services, it’s not something to cry about, it’s something something to celebrate,” she said.

She tells how eight sisters came to pick up the last children left at the crèche.

Sr. Magdalene said she would never forget some very special deliveries.

“Once, during lunch, one of our sisters came in with a box that appeared to contain bananas. She said to us “look what a beautiful banana we had today” and she took a newborn baby out of the box.

Sr. Magdalene looks visibly moved as she recounts the tragic story of a child they had cared for for some time.

“A two-year-old boy who had been with us for a while…he was returned to his parents. A few weeks later, I remember walking down Dingli Street and seeing a Malta weather attach. The same boy had been burned alive in a car.

She explained how the number of babies and infants at the crèche had decreased over the past two years and in February the last three children still residing there left the Sliema home.

They now live in the children’s home of Guardamangia, also run by the Sisters of Saint Angela Merici.

“Even though our doors are closed, we still find a way to help those who need it most with food, clothing, strollers and playpens, among other things. And we give from the heart.

The sisters were among the first to care for children in need.

“Am I bragging? Yes, I am because it’s my family. The Ursuline Sisters

has always held high standards in the care of children, even before standards were required,” Sr Magdalene said.

“In 1958 or 1959 we sent two of our sisters from House Guardamangia to specialize in care in the UK. At the time, it was something important. »

The two nuns brought with them the concept of a children’s home in the form of an apartment and so the layout of the Guardamangia house evolved into independent apartments, each with its own facilities and with children of different age groups under the care of a nun who assumed the role of mother.

We cried… but it’s not something to cry, it’s something to celebrate

But times are changing and the Ursulines are proud to keep the pulse of society.

“We always look ahead. We agree that babies belong to families, even though we have a pang in our hearts when we see them go,” admitted Sr. Magdalene.

“Nature teaches me a lot. Grapes must be crushed to produce wine.

The Sliema home is being transformed into a daycare center for children ‘with a difference’.

“I like to compare our mission to two lovers who want to bear fruit.

“We give our life to Jesus and our fruit is our mission. I help the mother because she needs to work or she is going through a difficult time, she is sick or she is going through a separation,” said the general mother.

She hoped that they would be able to offer their services to those most in need, to the “poorest of the poor”, which did not always mean financial poverty. “Sometimes you can be very rich and be very poor at the same time.”

The first nuns cared for children whose mothers had to prostitute themselves, whose parents suffered from mental illnesses and the poorest.

“In 1887, when Dun Sidor founded the congregation, mothers took their newborn babies with them to the fields. And they buried them up to their necks in the ground, just to keep them safe.

In recent years, children have been taken from their families and placed in the care of nuns for various reasons.

“The reasons vary. Sometimes it’s neglect, parents with drug problems, domestic violence but also mental health problems. These are on the rise,” the nun said.

Sr. Magdalene said that the nuns draw their energy from their congregation and their faith.

“And the powerhouse is this little room behind us,” she said, pointing to a quiet chapel. “This is where we restore and where new ideas are born.”

Sr. Magdalene is full of enthusiasm for the new mission of the nuns. With a broad smile, she said: “The crib is going to get up again.