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3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 OCTOBER 2020 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Moral values not based on religion I refer to the letter by Joseph Azz- opardi (11 October) and urge your readers to read between the lines of the story book he quotes avidly. Re- flect on the fact that compassion, care and love are at the core of the religion he espouses. Walk metaphorically for just an hour in the shoes of pregnant women who are asylum seekers, teen- agers, single mothers without access to childcare or those living with abu- sive partners. Why do some people use contracep- tives, if not for the same reason those same people may choose abortion when the contraceptive method fails? Abortion is about protecting women and girls who are pregnant and do not want to be. That is and will always be a fundamental human right. May I remind Mr Azzopardi that some of us have moral values that are not based on religion. Women who seek unbiased information about con- traception and yes, also abortion are welcome to call the Family Planning Advisory Service on 27782758. Prof. Isabel Stabile FRCOG. Ph.D. Assisting disabled in India THROUGH your newspaper I would like to publicly thank Mission Fund and the friends who support them, for the financial help that they have been giving me and all Maltese missionar- ies over many years. And especially for thinking of us and the additional needs we are trying to meet during this COVID-19 pandemic that is causing hardship all over the world. For the past 37 years I have been working on a voluntary basis in east- ern India, mostly in tribal areas of the States of Jharkhand and Orissa, India for the rehabilitation and inclusion of disabled persons. I work with local organisations in a community-based approach, working with the local village communities for the identi- fication of physical and attitudinal barriers that limit the development of disabled persons; we then together look for ways to reduce these barriers. My primary role is that of training the personnel. The regular donations from Mission Fund have enabled us to employ and train a Community Rehabilitation Worker who has contributed consid- erably to creating a favourable envi- ronment in villages and thus improv- ing the quality of life of the disabled persons and their families in her area of operation. Disabled children attend school with their peers; disabled ad- olescents participate in village events and sports while families who have a disabled member with high dependen- cy needs are helped in practical ways by the villagers. Generous people in Malta have contributed to make this possible and this is for us a stimulus and an inspiration. I encourage you to continue to support Mission Fund so that we missionaries can continue to serve and contribute to the development of marginalised persons. Donations to Mission Fund may be made online or by direct bank transfer to one of the following accounts: BOV (Account No: 163 007 980 22), APS (Account No: 200 008 207 62), BANIF (Account No: 000 879 631 01). More informa- tion may be accessed from the website www.missionfund.org.mt Marcette Buttigieg Pakur, Jharkhand India