In one of the hidden corners of a public garden very close to where I was born in Malta, there is a beautiful bronze statue of a boy pulling behind him two smaller children dressed in rags. The statue, called “Les Gavroches,” (from the French meaning the street-urchins) depicts the fictional character of Gavroche during the French revolution in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables. Gavroche was the eldest son of Monsieur and Madame Thénardier. He had two older sisters and two younger brothers. His parents showed him no affection and sent him to live on the streets of Paris. The other two younger brothers ended up on the street as well and by chance they met Gavroche, who in turn, invited them to live with him without realising that they were his blood brothers. He took care of them as best he could until he was killed during the uprising of the revolution. In our Homes for the “poor” around the world, there is always one or two “Gavroches” who naturally pair up in a symbiotic relationship of mutual help.
Bro Carmel Duca MC
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