Throughout the centuries, many prestigious titles adorned the City of Valletta. But this year, it will receive a new one, maybe more prestigious than the others since it will affect the lives of people, especially those in need – those who live on the fringes of our society.
The Franciscan Friary, popularly known as Ta’ Ġieżu, is working on a project aimed at turning Valletta into the capital city of hope.
Around four years ago, the Guardian of the Friary, Fr Marcellino Micallef, dreamt of creating a special place – one which would welcome the marginalised, feed them, quench their thirst, provide them with medication and help them soothe their ailments. Apart from the physical challenges, it will also support them with their mental health issues and assist them on their spiritual journey.
Such a place targets the holistic needs of the individuals, with the ultimate aim of helping them regain their dignity. To do so, Fr Marcellino looked for best practices around the world, some of which he visited and experienced first hand. Based on what he learnt, the soup kitchen project began.
The place chosen for such a project was the old refectory of the convent in Saint Ursula Street. The site, unfortunately, was tainted with a dark shadow in its past.
On February 11, 1823, poor children went to the convent to receive bread as part of the carnival celebrations. Unfortunately, a stampede occurred and 110 of them died while trying to get out of the convent. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, to honour those children, the Valletta Soup Kitchen will emerge out of this tragedy.
We are planning to feed thousands of people every year- Alexiei Dingli
The plan we have in mind is rather ambitious. First of all, we have to renovate the existent premises and make them adequate to receive our guests. They need to have all the necessary facilities, including fully equipped bathrooms, lockers and laundry rooms. In this way, our guests can take care of themselves and see to their basic needs. Following that, we will set up a professional industrial kitchen to the highest standards of hygiene and safety, through which we can prepare all the meals.
We are planning to feed thousands of people every year. They will be able to have a proper meal and, most important of all, socialise among themselves, five days a week. This project looks beyond just filling their bellies. We want to tackle the monster of loneliness and give these people new hope. It is essential that they feel loved and cared for because only if they start valuing themselves again can we restore their dignity. In one year, we will be serving more than 200,000 meals, and because of this, we will have an operating cost of €200,000.
So when you combine the capital costs to renovate the place and the operating costs, we are talking of huge numbers. When one looks at the endeavour that lies ahead, one feels dwarfed next to it. I must confess that a big concern I always had was about the money that we needed to kick-start this project. But Fr Marcellino was calm, composed and unphased when confronted with my doubts.
His reply was always that I should have faith in divine providence. These past four years were an emotional journey where the members of the committee set up to run this project worked hard to turn this into reality. We had a lot of currents flowing against us, some of them trying to stall and even stop the project, but we managed to reach our destination.
True to Fr Marcellino’s words, divine providence did intervene in our work and thanks to the Valletta local council, the Planning Authority, other governmental organisations, countless private companies and a multitude of private donations, we managed to start the project.
Works have now started on renovating the old refractory into its original state. We will install new equipment. Solar panels will not only supply the much-needed electricity to run the operations but we will also ensure that the soup-kitchen is a zero-carbon project in line with our environmental values.
Towards the end of this year, we will welcome our first guests and start touching people’s lives. We want to reach the wounded in the peripheries of our society, nourish them, but also help them turn their life around. The soup kitchen will be a living church where the words of the Gospel becomes a live experience.
Of course, this is just the beginning. We still need an army of volunteers, food to run the soup kitchen and funding to keep it going. So if you can help, please do contact us. Our joy is to allow those who come to make an experience of the love of God. We are not doing this for our glory, and only God will measure the success of this initiative in the end. What’s essential for us is that we love our neighbours, and God will do the rest!
Alexiei Dingli is former mayor of Valletta and also the deputy chief administrator of the Soup Kitchen OFM Valletta Foundation which is spearheading the project.