Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1424528
3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 OCTOBER 2021 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications New Savio painting AFTER the realisation of the unpub- lished portrait of Don Bosco by the Italian artist Edoardo La Francesca, I proposed to Edoardo another new project, the sketching and painting of another two important figures of the Salesian world: namely St.Dominic Savio and Laura Vicuna. After a very detailed study and a qualified research on the two saints, through various books, it was decided to proceed on the creation of the two portraits of Dominic and Laura. Edoardo had to consult the written life of Dominic Savui, written by Don Bosco himself, since no pictures of the saint are in existence, thus this en- deavour helped to create and express the coherent image and personality of Dominic, keeping in mind that the portrait of Dominic's image and per- sonality are an inspiration to the young of today. Laura Vicuna, on the contrary, thanks to a real photo found in the archives, shows her with a group of friends at school, captured in black and white. This photo extrapolated the real face of Laura. After studying the life and family environment of Laura, the artist was able to draw out Laura's expression of suffering caused by fami- ly problems. Finally, after a profound research of the costumes and wardrobe of the time, Edoardo decided to present, in a unique way, the two saints for today's young people. It is important to note that Edoardo La Francesca has a vast and rich ex- perience in works of restoration, and has worked on masterpieces of the renowned Mattia Preti, Stefano Erardi, Antonio Favré and Giuseppe Calì and other precious works of art here in Malta. Fr Charles Cini, SDB Sliema Green youths MY name is Matthew Farrugia, 14 years old, and I started the group Clean & Green because I saw that amongst the community there was not enough awareness about the environment. I gathered two of my friends and pro- posed my idea about starting a group which works towards a cleaner and nicer environment. On 29 July 2020 I started the group together with the Salesians of Senglea. Clean & Green meets up twice a week to discuss how to make our planet earth a better place. Every six months we are doing a clean-up in Rinella Bay on a five-year basis. We gather infor- mation on what type of trash we col- lect such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc… to input in the ERA website. We started with three youths, and I am happy to say that after one year and three months the group has grown to around 20 youths of ages 11-21. Our main is to spread as much awareness as possible. We believe that if we work together as a team, we can make a difference both in our local community, and globally. Changing the world is very difficult, however as Patrick Geddes once said, "think global, act local": that is how you can make a difference! Matthew Farrugia Senglea