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Dear friends,
Belgium, Germany, Poland ... each step takes us a little further along the journey and a little further into the year. We are preparing this journey into the unknown, one step at a time, with the help of the communities that will welcome us.
That evening we stopped at L'Arche in Poznan.
Michaล Talar, the community leader, put us in touch with Ala Naworcka who is very involved in the life of the community. In 1983, Ala joined the Faith and Light community, through which she got to know many publications and books about L'Arche communities in France. In 1988 Ala went to ลledziejowice, the oldest community in Poland, to understand what L'Arche is in practice. She stayed there for two years and then persuaded several people from her community to start a L'Arche community in Poznan. The first house was opened 27 years ago, in June 1994, the second in 1997. When we meet Ala on the screen, her smile radiates joy and peace. We talk with the simplicity of old friends.
In total, 11 members live with 4 assistants in the 2 homes. Michaล tells us that after a year's break, the community is relaunching its project of assistants for about ten members living outside the homes.
In Poznaล, the rhythm of the day is divided between time in the occupational therapy workshops and time in the homes. After breakfast, the permanent residents go to different workshops outside the community. In these workshops, people with disabilities participate in interesting activities such as ceramics, candle making, Christmas card making, painting, embroidery, carpentry, etc. Unfortunately, the workshops have been closed since the beginning of the pandemic. At around 3 p.m., the members return to their homes. They have lunch, take time to be together, talk and do various household tasks. Then there is a time of prayer and the evening meal. We will adapt to this rhythm by working in the morning and then serving the community for the rest of the day. A little help with the garden and housework is also welcome.
Ala invites us to "spend time" in the homes, the time that is so important in L'Arche for meeting and getting to know each other in truth. Ala even offers to let us stay, if space permits, in two rooms in one of the homes. We had initially planned to live "next door" to the communities, so as not to weigh on them. But Ala's proposal is tempting.
The nationalities of the assistants of the communities are mixed: Belgians, Germans, French ... the cultural difference is not an obstacle. Let's hope that language will not be an obstacle for us either, because we are betting on the universal language of smiles and hearts.
Poznaล has about 500,000 inhabitants, including about 130,000 students. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland, the cradle of the Polish state and the historical capital of the Wielkopolska region. There is so much to discover that Ala recommends us to visit the city with friends of the Community.
Finally, we ask Ala two now traditional questions:
How can Daphne, Josephine and Barthรฉlรฉmy meet young people of their own age? Ala replies that she is making enquiries of the families in the Community.
Is the Community in favour of being one of the stops on the "European Buddies Tour", an inter-community event mixing live and pre-recorded video, where core-members present who they are, what they particularly like to do, etc. Ala answers "why not".
With Ala and the Poznaล Community, we are crossing a kind of imaginary border to the East, one of the many "beyond" that we will cross with the help of the L'Arche Communities
"L'Arche changes the world heart by heart."
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