Andre Abela blushed as President George Abela looked in his eyes and held him by the shoulders while a raconteur explained why he deserves the Pope John XXIII medal for kindness, in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Valletta, yesterday.

Although not a ‘popular’ boy at school, the attention of some of Malta’s highest dignitaries were focused on his kindness for a few minutes, and he merited every second.

Andre, 14, from Cospicua who attends St Margerita College, received the award for being altruistic and showing empathy with his classmate, who spent a long time in hospital suffering from leukaemia. Unfortunately, his friend passed away. (His name is not being mentioned in respect of privacy.)

Shy Andre, told The Malta Independent how surprised he was to find out that he had won the award. It was a surprise for him when his parents informed him that guidance teacher, Ms Thelma Desira had noticed his kind actions, nominated him for the award and he won it.

The Peace Lab, which organises the award yearly for around 40 years, received around 70 nominations this year.

Ms Desira had organised a scheme to make sure that the students keep visiting the sick student while he rested at home or was in hospital, after the hospital staff informed her that he felt lonely. Only Andre honoured his commitment and continued visiting him regularly, even during the holidays.

Andre even gave his gaming console to his friend so that he could kill time on days when he couldn’t visit him. On other days, when they couldn’t meet, they spoke on Facebook and Andre made sure his friends knew about his friend’s progress via the social networking website. He never seemed to mind the fact that his friend’s image changed while cancer took the life out of him.

“I knew him since we were in Form 2. We weren’t so close initially but we got to know each other really well as time went by. We shared many happy moments together but also sad ones especially when he openly spoke about his sickness. We became good friends and I enjoyed spending time with him. I didn’t keep him company because of an award. I wasn’t expecting to be awarded. I miss him dearly,” Andre explained while clutching the medal in a wooden box, which the President had just handed him.

Andre’s parents beamed with pride throughout the ceremony and their eyes gleamed as they looked at their son posing for a photo with the President and the Prime Minister.

Andre’s actions remind us of what St Francis once said ’Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love’, President Abela said during a short ceremony, volunteers like Andre reach out where the state cannot reach. He admired the young boy’s determination and expression of anger whenever his classmates failed to visit a friend in need.

“Although many times people feel more comfortable contributing to society through a donation, very often the anonymity between the donor and the beneficiary is rife. Help should be direct, intimate and involves concrete actions as it alleviates suffering. Values are valuable as long as we acknowledge and nurture them with similar awards,” Dr Abela said after he commended Andre’s good deeds and encouraged him to nurture his altruism.

Peace Lab director Fr Dionisuis Mintoff told the guests present that human life should not be about a vicious cycle but about progress.

Speaking about the law regulating voluntary work introduced a few years ago, he said that although it was introduced with good intentions it left some repercussions because it killed the spontaneity of Maltese voluntary work. “Voluntary work is organic. It cannot follow one strict model. Law insists on formalities rather than other essential factors,” he said.

Only voluntary work can help children understand that rights and responsibilities go hand in hand, he said.

In many ways, Andre’s kindness is a symbol of Maltese young people’s heart of gold, Fr Mintoff said.

Pope John XXIII is known as ‘Il Papa buono’ for his kindness. He was also known for his reassuring smile.