March, 2013 Newsletter - Loyola Jesuit College

From the Office of the Director of Christian Service ProgrammeService Programme for SS2 StudentsEvery year, during the long vacation, LJC organizes a compulsory three-week Service Programme for studentswho have completed their fifth year (SS2) in the school. During this period, each of the students is assigned towork at a centre, usually an orphanage, a home for the physically disabled or a home for mentally retarded persons.Such a centre will normally be in a Nigerian town chosen, in most cases, by the student and his or her parents/guardian.The aim of the programme is to provide our students the opportunity to come in real contact with the lessprivileged in our society in order to better understand their lives and, thus, learn to love and relate better withthem. Hopefully, the programme also challenges the students who take part in it to reflect on ways of respondingeffectively to the desperate predicament of the needy in our society.The present SS2 students are aware of the programme and have been told to consult with their parents/guardians on the matter during the Easter holiday. Each student has to complete a form – to be used for the student’splacement in a centre – with his or her parents/guardian. Already we have a list of centres in differentparts of the country where our students have done the programme in the past. Students could choose from thelist; or if they know any other centre within Nigeria (preferably an orphanage) that is closer to where they reside,they should make enquiries and send us the contacts of such a centre. We will get in touch with the appropriateauthorities and see whether the centre is suitable for the programme and whether the people there arewilling to collaborate with us.This year’s programme will take place from the 22nd of July to the 9th of August. Parents/guardians of SS2 studentsare to ensure that their children/wards are free to undertake the programme within this period. Also theywill ensure that their children/wards arrive punctually at their centres on each day of the programme. In general,the students are expected to report at their various centres at 9 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. The school normallysends a staff to visit with the students at their various centres during the programme. At the end, the studentswill do an oral and/or written reflection. The director of each of the centres will also make a comprehensiveevaluation of each student.Our students normally give their best to the programme. Some may have difficulties understanding the purposeof the programme or adjusting to the different environments and the people they find in their centres. However,in the course of the programme, they mostly come to terms with their experiences and adjust accordingly; andthey learn a lot and enjoy different aspects of the programme. We hope that parents/guardians will continue tocooperate with the school and encourage our students to commit themselves to the programme.For further enquiries please contact:Bro. Maximus Ibenetor, S.J. ( Director) on 08077791087 or email: ibeneto@loyolajesuit.org13