Primary school children visited elderly residents of St Vincent De Paul Residence on Tuesday morning to hand out handmade Christmas cards.

This was the third time the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society (MFWS) organised the Nanniet Post Office initiative, an event that was born during COVID-19’s peak in 2020 to help alleviate the elderly’s loneliness.

The students from the Marsa Primary School had been preparing for weeks for the morning’s festivities, crafting the cards together with simple but heartwarming designs, drawings and messages. 

“It was a team effort,” a teacher said, “it took all of us a few weeks to get everything ready.” 

As they handed out cards, the children chattered excitedly among themselves and the residents, sharing smiles as they handed out the gifts.

One student said she felt “happy” to have been part of the event, another pulling down her mask to smile at the elderly crowd.

Catherine, a resident, said she appreciated the visit as it “gave me something to be interested in".

Once everyone had a card, the students sang carols to the residents, several of the audience clapping along to the music. One resident, Philip, called his wife to share the experience, holding the phone towards the young choir with a wide smile.

Primary school pupils schare Christmas cheer with the elderly.

Accompanying the students was MFWS chair Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

“Roughly a third of the Maltese population, particularly seniors, suffer from loneliness,” she said, “and this festive period can be an emotional one, especially for those who are unable to join loved ones. So we hope the children’s presence will bring a momentary sparkle in these people’s lives.

“Without you before us, our country would not have been able to grow,” she said, addressing the elderly.

Education Minister Clifton Grima said that these initiatives help expand and grow younger generations’ social values, the project “a message of love and a message of respect.”

“The education system isn’t solely academic,” he said, “but it is a social one.”