L’Arche - a sign of hope to the world

Sydney
17 August 2003

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L’Arche - a sign of hope to the world

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L’Arche - a sign of hope to the world

From left, Cameron Cutts, Margaret O’Donnell, Sue Hanna and Donna Rhall

By Chris Lindsay

“Relationships are at the heart of L’Arche,” says Donna Rhall, community leader of L’Arche Sydney.

“L’Arche is a sign to the world, not a solution to the problems of the world. It is a sign of hope.

“We look at relationships, at relationships of peace.”

L’Arche does what not many in the community would do - it welcomes people with intellectual disabilities into its community and lives alongside them.

It is an international federation of faith-based communities creating homes and day programs with people who have developmental disabilities.

L’Arche was founded in 1964 when Jean Vanier, the son of Canadian Governor General Georges Vanier, welcomed two men with disabilities into his home in the French town of Trosly.

‘L’Arche’ is French for ‘The Ark’, as in ‘Noah’s Ark’, the biblical symbol of deliverance and of God’s covenant with humanity.

How does it work? The Catholic Weekly spoke with people from L’Arche Sydney to find out.

“L’Arche in Sydney has three houses, at Burwood, Merrylands and Campsie,” says Donna.

“There are nine people with intellectual disabilities in these houses with two more coming in.

“Also at the houses are assistants who choose to share their life with people with intellectual disabilities, and then there are friends of the movement who help out. And there are people who pray for us.”

At Burwood there are three people with intellectual disabilities and three assistants, plus people like Sue Hanna who support the work.

Sue, administrative assistant for Sydney’s Catholic Communications, says: “I am a friend of the community. I heard about what L’Arche do from a friend in Melbourne, who suggested it was a good thing to do.

“I then read a lot of stuff by Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche. He wrote a book called Community and Growth, which is basically a text book for living in a community.

“I attend functions the community has. At the moment, because it is the community’s 20th anniversary, there is a lot of story-telling, talking about the community, how we came into it, what draws people into it, what it means to them.

“The community is based on relationships between people. As a single person you can get quite caught up in your own life, but in L’Arche you go beyond that - you are called to share your life with another person.

“You find you are giving of yourself. It can be a life-changing exercise. It is a place of personal growth.

“Many people find it is a stabilising influence ... it is a healing place to be in, but there is also lots of fun.”

Cameron Cutts, house co-ordinator at Burwood, says it is about “living with beatitude, witnessing the Gospel”.

“We share our life with these people, with people who the world says are not powerful,” he says.

Margaret O’Donnell, a “core member” at Burwood, is one of the people for whom L’Arche exists. Her story is typical of many.

“I lived with Mom and Dad and sister before I went to the Burwood house,” she says. “First I went to see how I liked it, and I liked it very much, and I have been there for 16 years. I was 50 when I moved in.”

(Because of their age, Margaret’s parents knew they could not care for her properly for much longer. They are still alive. Margaret attended her father’s 92nd birthday recently and gave him two blocks of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate. “He was very proud of me,” she says.).

“I am very happy to live in the L’Arche community,” says Margaret. “I have got others to keep me company. On Wednesdays I go to the senior citizens and we play some bingo; sometimes we go on picnics, play skittles. I also do emails to my friends.”

Donna says: “Margaret has a real talent for keeping in contact with friends ... she writes letters, sends emails and phones people all over the world that she has met.

“As well as those like Margaret who are brought in by those who can no longer care for them, people tend to come to us from other situations involving intellectual disabilities.

“L’Arche began in Sydney by welcoming a man from a Gladesville institution for those with intellectual disabilities.

“We are funded by some support from the Department of Ageing and Disability and also benefactors, people who donate to L’Arche to help with its work.”

Donna was given a three-year mandate as community leader last year. It is a full time position involving administrative, pastoral and spiritual care.

Cameron was at Melbourne University before he joined L’Arche. He found student politics unsatisfying. “There was a lot of marching and shouting, but not much world-changing stuff.

“At that time I got away from religion, but for some reason I started going to Mass again. I spoke to the Jesuits about joining them, but it was 18 months before anything could happen.

“I saw an ad in The Catholic Weekly about L’Arche and made contact with them. It was an extraordinary experience and it turned out to be the place I was looking for.

“We can talk so much about changing the world, but in the end for the individual it comes down to relationships. There are so many people out there needing to be loved.

“People with intellectual disabilities have so much ability at that, at finding new ways of being together in the world. People who are so different can share their life together, share the ordinariness of daily life.

“I have decided not to join the Jesuits. My place is in L’Arche,” Cameron says.

“I get quite frightened at the way the world is going, with new technology that is looking at eliminating people with intellectual disabilities - in times ahead people like Margaret might not even exist.

“At L’Arche we value people who are vulnerable, we value life and what it means to be human, what it means to be of God, to be dealing with God.”

Donna doesn’t believe the world needs a bigger L’Arche, “but more organisations like L’Arche, and expanding the number of people who are relating to L’Arche”.

She says: “I am not sure the relationships can be there to the same extent in a large organisation.

“L’Arche is about building a community. It is not social work. It is as much for the benefit of the assistants as it is for those with intellectual disabilities. It is about finding a whole new way of looking at the world.

“Young assistants from around the world come to Australia. I meet them at the airport and they look like scared rabbits.

“But six months later they have grown and matured. L’Arche changes the world through them.”

Donna says people come to Australia as L’Arche assistants “with different traditions and cultures. They get some money to live, but there is a strong sense of volunteerism.

“For many of them it is a kind of mission year; for others it is a time of experience before they go to university or whatever.”