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  • Paulo Freire Bio
  • Aims
• Events
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  • Literacy for Children
  • Literacy for Adults
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• Projects
• The Team
• Volunteers
• PFI Youths

PFI: Our Aims

1. Mission Statement

Social inclusion is a social value and aim of contemporary Maltese Society.  Yet some citizens still have to be helped to stand up for their rights and to participate fully in Maltese Society. The Paulo Freire Institute was set up in order to promote and empower citizens who suffer from any form of soical exclusion. 
 
2.What are the overall aims of the organization?

According to the latest national census the percentage of people in Malta who find difficulty in reading and writing is high. There are areas in Malta where the problem is more pronounced. The Paulo Freire Institute was set up by the Maltese Jesuits to promote literacy and community development.

Since the causes and effects of illiteracy are many and complex the approach to tackle it cannot be a narrow one, wherein children and parents are taught functional literacy skills only.

Thus the aim of the Institute is to empower, and promote the self-development, self-confidence and the talents (including functional literacy) of each and every individual; especially the weak in society.

For this reason our Institute will apply three interrelated approaches: community development, non-formal education and community social work.

3. What are the objectives of the project for which funds are being requested?

The social work service at the institute is becoming better known by the general population. Also all the activities at the institute have increased greatly over the past two years and this has meant that many more people are coming to the institute. The demand for our social work services has increased greatly. However we have had to refer a large number to other sections of Appogg since we do not have enough social workers to cope with them.
All the Institute’s projects demonstrate a great amount of work done on a community level. They are projects, which were designed to meet the direct needs of children (especially those with learning difficulties, and difficult social backgrounds), their parents, unemployed persons and other groups with social needs in the neighbourhood. A recent development has been the inclusion of children from immigrants living in an open centre with our programmes for children (literacy for children and non-formal education for children). At the moment seven children from Congo are participating. It is hoped that this would contribute to the integration of migrants in the Maltese Community particularly at Zejtun.

All the Institute’s projects benefit from a great contribution from volunteers and other resources, both local and external.  The projects can be further developed because there are healthy signs of motivation and increasing community participation in response to the growing awareness of the issues they are facing. 

Since March 2005 the Paulo Freire Institute has been accepted as a Community-based Lifelong Learning Centre in a programme coordinated by the Foundation for Educational Services. This project which has had the backing of the Zejtun Local Council has started to bear fruit. The institute offers computer awareness courses; a course in basic Maltese and English.  Various developmental courses are orgainised from time to time on thinking skills, empowerment and parental skills.

This work is very much in line with the proposal made by the Ministry of Social Policy some years ago when the importance of working on social welfare reform through community development work was highlighted. The main points of focus were:
• The stimulation of local activities
• The improvement of the physical and the social environment of the community
• The increase of responsibilities of the local people
• Assistance in the social rehabilitation in those areas considered being depressed areas in Malta or areas having a higher concentration of social problems than the rest of the Island.

The recently published National Action Plan on Poverty and Exclusion by the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity has listed twelve priorities. All the activities of the Paulo Freire Institute are geared towards Key priority 5: Ensuring that literacy and numeric skills are acquired by all members of society, reducing school absenteeism and promoting lifelong and life-wide opportunities at all levels and in a wide range of areas.

Furthermore the project Literacy for Employment, carried out in collaboration with ETC is targeted specifically at unemployed persons and fits in with Key priority 1, 2 and 3. The Institute is contributing towards key priority 7, 9 and 10 above all through its Community social work service, which is functioning directly through the funds, obtained through the funding obtained through the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity. The Institute’s agreement with Agenzija Appogg through which the service is bought ensures professional supervision and training for the social workers.  
 

The Institute’s Headquarters at Misrah Dicembru 13, has continued to be a hub of activity for the community at Zejtun and beyond. However a proportion of the Institute’s activities take place at the Pastoral Centre of Gebel San Martin.  In 2001 the parish of Zejtun opened a Pastoral Centre at Gebel San Martin. This is an area were the need for Social and Community work is high.  It is also an area where the youngest families at Zejtun live and where many young families with Social problems from other parts of Malta have come to live. The Jesuits have always worked a great deal in this area, and have contributed towards the integration of these people with Zejtun.  For these reasons as well as because of the need of space, the Non-formal Education activities are taking place, almost exclusively, at Gebel San Martin.  The meetings and training services for the mothers’ groups also take place at the Centre.