Maurizio graduated in Social Policy, is part of the Service Team and leads NOW – a team working with youth in drug rehabilitation centres.

The youngest of 6 siblings, the thread of my story goes back to my experience of being raised in a typical Maltese family, where I tended to be the centre of attention. My brothers and sisters were very protective of me wherever I went, not hesitating to stick up for me if I ever got myself into trouble. Although superficially this made me feel secure, deep down I always felt watched and under their thumbs, without the opportunity to prove myself. Filled with a sense of frustrating limitation, as I grew up, I nurtured anger in my heart.

Down the Slippery Slope

My reaction was to rebel and try to impress those around me. As early nine years old, I began to drink, smoke and use bad langauge – it made me feel stong and accepted. By the age of fourteen, I dropped out of school and started working in the family bar. This led to an escalation in my destructive behaviour on the weekends – from weed, to alcohol, LSD, Ecstacy and Cocaine – there was no stopping the freefall down slippery slope I was rapidly descending. As all this wasn’t enough, I also began to be dominated by a terrible addiction to gambling –  the more money I had, the more I gambled it away.

When at nineteen I took my first shot of heroine, its immediate and deceptive effects were profound, giving me a false sense of momentary security and fearlessness. Its devastating effects on my life however began to take their toll – physical sickness, relational problems, alienation from those who were close to me and trouble with the police.

There was no stopping the freefall

Peace at last

By the age of twenty-seven, I had reached rock-bottom. In despair, I enrolled in the Caritas rehabilitation program at San Blas. I clearly remember that as I moved in, I looked back at my life and saw my dismal failures in a flash. I knew I had to start my life from scratch, and that’s why I found the rehab services center that can assist and guide you.

My first breakthrough was a good confession and attending Mass. Slowly but surely I opened my heart to Jesus in prayer, making it very much my daily routine. I began to experience His unconditional love and routinely read the Bible the priest had given me. As my thirst and desire to know Jesus more and to read the scripture grew, words like these became alive for me:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).