‘Hidden poverty’ plagues society

Poverty among the most vulnerable in society may be less obvious these days but it is “all the more real”, a nun who has been working with the poorest in society for over 50 years believes. Sister Benigna Scully of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run the St Paul’s Home in Ħamrun, told the Times of Malta that while since her arrival in Malta in 1965 she has seen changes, there were still those who struggled daily, and she  described what she believes is “hidden poverty”. “You don’t see people on the street begging, but there is a hidden poverty and that is all the more real. Poor people don’t make themselves known. I know because my family was poor, but my mother would never let us out of the house unless we were perfectly clean and in good clothes she sewed herself. “There are people that have very small pensions, expensive medicines to buy, and they come here [to St Paul’s Home] with no hope of going anywhere else. It’s real poverty,” Sr Scully said. She went on to describe other forms of poverty that she witnessed first-hand on a daily basis, especially while out collecting donations. She insisted that while there were now more organisations working with the poor, those...