US Embassy Facility Management Officer visits Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary, Naxxar

On Friday, February 15, Facility Management Officer Michael McMahon visited Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary, Naxxar, to speak about U.S. Wildlife and National Parks.

The presentation was followed by comments and questions from the students.  Mr. McMahon donated American books to the school library and the Head of school, Ms. Mary Attard, thanked the U.S. Embassy for the books and the visit.

If your school is interested in having an officer from the U.S. Embassy speak to a class, please contact the US Embassy at USEmbMalta@state.gov.

Remembering John A Mizzi

This week Malta lost one of  its dedicated authors and journalists,  Mr John A Mizzi, who passed away at the age of 86.

Mizzi was known for his lifelong commitment towards journalism, both in Malta and also for leading newspapers and broacasting agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States.
At 15, in 1940 he was the youngest reporter from the front-line battle chronicling the day to day incidents of Malta under aerial siege in British publications.

In Malta he was news editor of the Times of Malta and frequently acting editor of both the Times of Malta and the Sunday Times of Malta. He was also correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, Independent Television News, British United Press, Religious News Services and a contributor to various media in the United Kingdom and the United States.

He has compiled various television documentaries on the United States and several European countries, notably the Soviet Union, and collaborated in documentaries shown on the BBC and Granada.

He was also the leader of the St Aloyisus Scout Group. He was involved in the revival of scouting in Russia and holds the highest decoration of the Russian Union of Scouts, the Bronze Beaver. He holds other decorations such as the Silver Acorn.

Throughout his life he wrote various books, notably Gallipoli – The Malta Connection; Scouting in Malta, Operation Pedestal, Antonio Muscat Fenech, Ġurnalista Pijunier tal-Ilsien Malti and Massacre in Malta, together with a series of books entitled Malta at War. Full list of his publications can be found here: http://www.bdlbooks.com/search/most-popular.html?searchphrase=all&searchword=john+a+mizzi&view=search.

Photo source: https://www.wiseowlmalta.com/authors/johnmizzi.jpg

Throughout his life he received many awards, amongst which, Ġieħ ir-Repubblika.

SAS Malta would like to give condolences to his family.

Lincoln: The Legacy – special screening and discussion

Euro Media Forum in collaboration with Eden Cinemas and the US Embassy are organising a special screening and discussion that gives an insight into the highlights of Abraham's Lincoln political career. The film Lincoln directed and produced by Steven Spielberg is an American historical drama film that is based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography of Lincoln and covers the final four months of Lincoln's life. Lincoln was nominated for Seven Golden Globe Awards and twelve Academy Awards.

Speakers from the US Embassy in Malta Thomas M Schmidt and Nathan Austin will delve into the American and European socio-economic and political scenario during which Lincoln became President. The social, economic and political motivations to abolish slavery as well as the necessity of leading a country to war will also be discussed. The discussion will also reflect on Lincoln's influence on today's human rights legislation and leading politicians. Questions from members of the audience are welcome.

Lincoln's special screening will take place at Cinema 11 at Eden Cinemas on the 1st February 2013. The discussion follows the 5.30 p.m. screening. Tickets for the Lincoln special screening and discussion can be bought from www.edencinemas.com.mt.

Should participants need any more information please email euromediaforum@gmail.com
For further information log on the Euro Media Forum facebook page log on: http://www.facebook.com/groups/312352748854716/permalink/315603351862989/?ref=notif&notif_t=like#!/Euro.Media.Forum.

SASM Members approve changes to Statute

The changes to the Stars And Stripes Malta Statute have been approved when 92% of registered members voted in favour of the changes. At http://www.starsandstripesmalta.com/News/News201211.html#SA20121102 one can see the changes members were asked to approve.

We would like to thank all members who took part. It is a clear demonstration of your support in SASM and we greatly appreciate it.

The approved statute will be filled in the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

'Sunday Lunch With A Twist!’ – Next Door Family EU

On 18th November at 1pm, 20 slightly different Sunday lunches will be happening all across Malta as part of the Next Door Family EU project.

Each ‘Sunday Lunch with a Twist’ will be between 1 Maltese family, 1 non-EU family making Malta their home, and 1 trained Next Door Family assistant.

The aim of this project is to celebrate the strength and beauty of diversity, to teach us how to live together not just next to one another and to focus on our similarities, not just our differences. But it is also just about having fun, eating good food and making new friends! 

The Next Door Family project has been running successfully since 2004 in the Czech Republic coordinated by NGO Slovo21, and lasting friendships have been formed between the families. This year 8 European Union member states have joined together to create Next Door Family EU and more than 210 family lunches will take place across Europe on 18th November at 1pm.

We feel that this project is a really exciting opportunity for the Maltese to showcase their famous hospitality, rich family culture and great food.

Equally, we know that settling into a new country can be challenging and we hope this project helps Non-EU families to feel more at home here. The ‘Sunday Lunch with a Twist’ is a wonderful chance for these families to make those first steps whilst sharing their incredible variety of cultures and cuisines with Maltese families.

If all this sounds like something you and your family might enjoy and you would like to be part of it all, then have a look at our website www.nextdoorfamily.eu and APPLY ONLINE as soon as possible before spaces run out!

Please feel free to email us on nextdoorfamilymalta@gmail.com or call on 99613869/79699692 if you have any questions.

Happy Halloween from Stars And Stripes Malta!

Like many other ancient celebrations, Halloween was originally a non-Christian ritual. According to the historian Nicholas Rogers, this celebration seems to be linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain. This feast was the largest celebration in the Celtic calendar and used to mark the end of as well as the beginning of the cycle of life. This feast was observed around the end of October / beginning of November at a time when the long days and the bonanza of summer would give way to the less prosperous winter period. Being farmers, these people had to secure livestock and ensure that the summer harvest would last through the winter months.

The Celtics believed that during Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year made their way into the next world. They lit bonfires and performed sacrifices to honour those who had passed on and to light the way towards their new destination. The Celts believed that on the day supernatural traffic was two ways; demons, fairies and the ghosts of departed already in the afterlife would come back into the real world.

 Photo: http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/l/g/6/-/samhain-altar.jpg

In an effort to eradicate paganism, Christian missionaries hijacked non-Christian festivities and attributed to them a Christian twist. In this case, the feast of All Saints was assigned to November 1^st, yet unlike many other similar pagan feasts, Samhain was not wiped out.

Halloween was revived thanks to the Irish who had immigrated to North America. During the 20^th century it evolved into the nationwide feast we love so well. Today Halloween is usually celebrated amongst family and friends. Parties and other events may be planned on October 31 or in the weekends before and after this date.

Many children dress up in horror costumes and visit other homes in the vicinity. At each stop they knock and ask for a treat. This is normally sweets. If they are not given anything, they threaten to do some “harm” to the inhabitants of the house. Some families make jack-o'-lanterns out of pumpkins and decorate their homes and gardens for the occasion.

In Malta this occasion has been celebrated only for about 20 years as costume parties. The custom of children trick-or-treating with parents has not yet caught up nationally.

Photo: http://wallpaperdesigns.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Fright-Night-Happy-Halloween.jpg

Columbus Day: Are you in or are you out?

Columbus Day is a controversial annual holiday which falls on the second Monday of October. It became a federal holiday in 1937 although there are records of it being celebrated in the late 18th century. It is intended to celebrate Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the Americas; the first European to set sail to what was later to be the new world.

This celebration has Italian origins and many Italo-Americans borrow the day to celebrate their heritage. It took the lobbying of a first generation Italian living in Denver called Angelo Noce to popularise it, then Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald a to make it a statutory holiday and the push of the Knights of Columbus to result in President Franklin D. Roosevelt to sign the date as a federal holiday. 

Controversy surrounds the holiday because of a number of factors:

·         Christopher Columbus was not the first European to visit the Americas, it was Viking explorers from Scandinavia who crossed into the Americas almost a thousand years before;

·         Columbus did not really discover mainland USA, he discovered San Salvador, an island in the Caribbean. In his four voyages, the closest he got to the USA was Cuba.

·         The Europeans displaced the native Indians, their beliefs and culture and in some cases massacred them. Some feel that this is not something one should celebrate.

 

Different states celebrate the day very differently; some states hold a Columbus Day Parade, others mark it as a Day of Recognition and hold services while others do not officially recognise it and normally celebrate another occasion on the day. For example, Hawaii marks Discoverer's Day to honour James Cook the British navigator who discovered the islands.