Presenting the People for Others Programme (POP) – a Secondary School initiative

Our College aspires “to foster compassionate and responsible men and women with others and for others, committed to the poor and persons in need.”
In order to help our students experience this more actively, the Secondary School has recently launched the People for Others Programme, referred to as POP.

Once a year, students are given the possibility of an immersion experience in a reality within our society which needs more care and justice.

The programme started with the Form 3s, and aims to spread to other Forms in the following years. The reality chosen for 2022 was a service-learning experience with persons who are homeless.

The day starts off with a preparation session at school to identify the aims of the day and the attitudes necessary to live the day well. The students then spend a day at YMCA – Valletta and the Soup Kitchen. During this day they listen to first-hand experiences of persons who went through homelessness, participate in a simulation game to reflect about what it means to be homeless, and also lend a hand at the Soup Kitchen.

Check out photos here

So far, the students have all been very positive about the experience. They commented that they were not aware that homelessness exists in Malta and that anybody could become homeless because of situations that happen to them. The hands-on experience was what struck them most – they felt the satisfaction of being able to be there and do something for others.

Ms Roberta Vella, Assistant Head responsible for Global Citizenship in the Secondary, says:

I am very glad that we managed to set this programme going. We hope that this experience will help students grow in empathy and in social consciousness and commitment.

Ms Christine Rossi, Global Citizenship Coordinator, says:

This is an important step to make the education programme offered at our Secondary School more Ignatian in its quality. A programme like this requires great dedication, energy and commitment, and we will do our best to sustain it throughout all the years so that our students grow to be more compassionate and committed citizens.

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