Author: Marie Therese Cuschieri

The Lions Malta Charter 2023  was held, on the 18th November 2023, with a Gala Dinner at the Ballroom of the Phoenicia Hotel.

 Lion Carla Cifola the Area Director for Lions Clubs in Malta, San Marino, Israel, Cyprus and Greece. During the evening the Area Director had occasion to meet the Presidents namely Lion Ronnie Cauchi of St. Paul’s Bay and Lion Sandra Genovese of Mdina Malta Host. 

A good number of Members from our friendships  from Clubs Sciacca Host, Licata and Bosco Marengo were present. Also present was PDG Lion Paolo Gattola and his brother Lion Danilo who are Honorary Members of our Club, and Lion Piero Nasuilli Secretary of Lions Citta Murata Group.

PRESIDENT’S SPEECH AT CHARTER NIGHT

Good evening, everyone. It is an honour to host all these wonderful people
tonight. I must add that you are all looking fabulous in this great ballroom. So
let us give a round of applause to each and every one of us for just looking
great!

In life nothing is worthwhile unless we are ready to take risk, ready to take on
projects which might seem unreachable, projects which might seem too big.
Nelson Mandela once said, “There is no passion to be found in living small and
seƩling for something less than we are capable of living. But in these
circumstances, there is no losing, only learning, there is no failure, only
opportunites.”

You see, life has a way of presenting us with different situations having the
same template. Relationships being one of these. Like relationships, with all
our projects, it is easy to fall in love with, it happens and it’s natural. The iniƟal
excitement of each relationship, the plans for the future and imagining
ourselves out of a movie script living our lives together, and the same happens
for our services as Lions.

We fall in love with our service because there is no greater satisfaction than to
elevate our communiƟes into leading better lives. But like our relationships,
at Ɵmes, the initial love and energy by which we lead these projects might lose
its lustre and this loses its power to attract support in fulfilling our service. Our
clubs and our projects might not be what we intended to be.

I invite you to pick up a glass of water in front of you and hold it out holding it
for a few seconds is okay, holding it up for a couple of minutes might be fine,
but aŌer that your hand starts aching, ready to give up.

Here is where the real work starts. It is here where we must push our clubs to
conƟnue working with the same momentum and dedicaƟon towards what we
do, so as to harvest the best possible outcome for all. It is a reality that with
as many Lions as we can imagine, we sƟll can never cross the finishing line of
us serving our community. It is impossible since the needs of this world are
never ending.

Love in our relationship is what keeps us strong, helping each other forward.
Loving what we do is what keeps Lions Clubs all over the world united in our
goals.

Let’s be jealous of each other, but not a lot, just the amount to encourage us to work together instead of against each other. Let us as Lions, not shy away from new ideas. Through innovative discussions we move forward in creating an environment in which the communities which need us most thrive. Through this, the glass that we hold out in front of us gets lighter. I’d like to quote a short saying from the poet: 

Giuseppe Ungharetti: “After so much fog, one by one, the stars are revealed. I breathe the freshness that the colour of the sky leaves me, recognize myself as a passing image taken in an immoral circle.”

As I have mentioned numerous times, I’ve adopted the theme of hope. When
there is nothing left, hope remains. Never deprive anyone of hope! It can be
all that they have left!

Karl Grima Bezzina – President Lions Sliema Club 

(Newsletter November 2023)

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