1

The Project or Action ReBeL – reading between the lines was initiated by the Akademie Klausenhof of Dingden, Germany.

2

The official launching of the Action ReBeL – reading between the lines was held at Saint Augustine Residence, Rabat, Gozo-Malta, on Thursday, 22 October 2009. It was opened by the Honorable Giovanna Debono, Minister for Gozo..

The Gozo meeting was organised and chaired by Dr Joseph Bezzina, Chairperson, Cathedral Public Library, on behalf of the Library, assisted by Hildegard Schuster, Bibliothek, Akademie Klausenhof, Hamminkeln, Germany.

Since then, the project has been going from strength to strength

3

The Gozo meeting was hosted by the Gozo Cathedral Public Library that opened its doors on 1 October 1979. It began with about 5000 books and new acquisitions reached around 3000 books a year. By the year 2000, the end of the twentieth century, the library had 103,000 books. Ten years later the number of books is close to 150,000.

4

It was attended by twenty (20) participants from SEVEN countries: Germany - two; Italy - three; Latvia - one; Lithunaia - two; Malta - seven; Norway - three; and Turkey - two.

The meeting proceeded on 23 and 24 October. The main theme was the planning of the activities and future meetings of the Partnership activity.

The meeting came to an end on Saturday 24 October. Hildegard Schuster, on her own behalf and on that of all participants, heartily thanked Dr Bezzina for organising board and lodging logistics in Gozo, for the meeting, as well as for the visits to interesting places in Gozo. She also expressed words of appreciation for Mr Anthony Farrugia, the Librarian of the Gozo Cathedral Public Library, and the group of volunteers for the warm reception that they gave to the group meeting at Gozo. She was certain that she was expressing the sentiments of one and all in expressing these words of gratitude.

5

The CATHEDRAL LIBRARY • Gozo-Malta has focused on both staff and learner involvement. The activities as regards LEARNERS have been THREEFOLD.

6

The first activity by the Cathedral Public Library within this project targeted elderly children and teenagers of foreign parents who have not yet assimilated themselves to the local education system and culture.

A number of study groups were held in the library premises to discuss particular subjects mostly related to literary texts and local history that students had to study in compliance with the National curriculum. This was especially of help to those who are slow learners as well as to those who cannot count on some support at home.

Four long sessions were held during March 2010. One of the library volunteers read out a passage and afterwards each person was given a hand-out related to the literary or history text. This had to be completed to elicit each person's understanding of the read text. The result was then discussed and difficulties that cropped up cleared.

Before  leaving  the library, each peson chose a book from the library to take home to further his knowledge on the discussed theme.  A good number showed interest in joining the library but as yet there has been no surge in library subscriptions. This might be due to the fact that students are usually concentrating on their examinations during May and June.

7

The second activity was directed towards teenage students. The precise aim of the meetings held was to help familiarize themselves with local literature and history. Novels with a local historic background and salient episodes from local history were read and discussed. The participants showed a lot of interest in learning the history and the historical significance of still standing fortifications and palaces in their very midst. They were amazed that such buildings came across their paths everyday and that they were totally unaware of their significance in the history of Gozo.

The emphasis was laid on the reading of a page or two of the salient history of Gozo to instil a better appreciation of local heritage and culture and a yearning to delve deeper in these events by the reading more specific literature. One such episode is the story of Bernardo DeOpuo, who during the Great Siege of Gozo of 1551, killed his wife and two daughters to save them from being dragged into slavery.

8

The third activity involves a group of the Cathedral Parish Senior Citizens Group. They were initiated on a year-long activity to improve the quality of their education, even if at an advanced age. A familiarization visit was organized to the Library on 18 May 2010.  

The visit was rendered more interesting with the reading of short stories in Maltese as well as with a short talk on healthy living. Related books on both subjects were laid out on the library tables for the elderly to page through and to take home.

9

The elderly were also encouraged to read stories to each other. Activities were held every month for eight consecutive months. This greatly improved their quality of education and reinvigorated their interest in the world around them.

10

The meeting also helped these senior citizens to familiarize themselves with local literature and history. The participants showed a lot of interest in learning the history and the historical significance of fortifications and palaces in their very midst. They were stupefied that they passed by these buildings everyday and that they were totally unaware of their significance in local history.

11

One session included the reading of excerpts from Homer, Odyssey book 5, lines 70 to 109, a passage that relates the shipwreck of Ulysses on Gozo, or this is what many believe. The group was eventually taken to the legendary spot in the village of Xaghra belived to have been the abode of the nymph Calypso who harboured Ulysses on the island for seven years.  

The elderly were amazed on the resemblances between Homer’s description of the place of shipwreck – a golden sandy beach now known as Ramla Bay and a valley lush with vegetation – and the area surrounding Calypso Cave. 

The number of questions on the poet Homer and his masterpiece flowed abundantly on the spot and they would have proceeded at length were it not for the scorching July sun.

12

The senior citizens also appreciated the information supplied on the whole area especially the coastal fortification in and around Ramla Bay built from 1715 onwards. They also showed interest in the newly planted vineyards in the valley, the grapes of which produces one of the most prized wines of the Maltese islands.

13

The senior citizens were invited – through a church leaflet distributed to all parish households every Friday – to another lecture on the geology of the island and its history since the arrival of humans around 7000 years ago. 

The meeting took place in the premises of the Library and a number of publications related to the subject were again laid out on the table. 

They heard, probably for the first time, that Malta and Gozo are sedimentary; they were formed beneath the seas.

Malta and Gozo were pushed from the depths of the oceans by tectonic movements and initially they formed the southernmost tip of the European continent. This solved the enigma of why they had always noticed a number of fossils in local globigerina limestone.

Participants were amazed to learn that Gozo first humans – their ancestors – arrived from Sicily 7000 years ago. They took up abode in Gozo in a number of caves overlooking Dwejra and actually opening towards the direction of Sicily. It is through ReBeL that history of their island is finally coming to life.

14

The ReBeL – Grundtvig Gozo-Malta continued to concentrate on reading sessions for senior citizens. Lectures on other aspects of local history were held at the library premises and these were followed by a first-hand experience on the spot to familiarize them with the facts and places that had been discussed.

It is hoped that they will eventually pass on this knowledge to their children and grandchildren…

15

As regards the all-volunteer STAFF, the mobility was used to improve the quality and amount of co-operation between the Library and adult education organisations abroad. Such mobility would continue to help the staff to become acquainted with foreign programmes so as to improve the quality and amount of local programmes and augment co-operation between adult education organisations.

16

The fruit from ReBeL–Grundtvig will be reaped for many years to come.