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28 October 2021
Dear friends,
Meeting with "Kauno Arkos bendruomenÄ—" - It was a Sunday, we were invited to lunch at the Living Home. A flat on the top floor of a building in the city centre. Mantas, Erika, Edita, Romas, Asta, Yolanda, Robertus and Evelina welcomed us in the L'Arche way. Unconditionally. As if we were family. Visiting the home. Sharing a meal prepared with patience by Evelina. Visit to the city centre. Every step of the way is a surprise. We learned during this trip that the language barrier can be more difficult to overcome than the disability barrier. We discover that several core-members speak English as well as we do. Between Themy and Mantas, there is no barrier, their complicity settles very quickly.
Ugnė, volunteers leader, has prepared a rich, precise and varied programme for us. Often adjusted in real time, we just have to let ourselves be carried along. To enjoy the mildness of the day in Trakai and the beauty of the sunset in Kernavé with Romas, Mantas and Rokas. The view of the city and its two rivers with Romas, the second Mantas, Daïnius and his daughter. The morning prayer where everyone has time to express themselves. The collective blessings on the occasion of birthdays or the departure of a volunteer. Not forgetting Izabella, Rosita, Aïtis, Jokūbas and all our friends from the Social Workshop and the Day Center.
For the community's anniversary, we are invited to join the party that everyone is looking forward to. Core members and assistants dance, sing or recite poems on stage. The latter highlighting the former, shining with their authenticity. Each supporting the other. Each illuminating the other. The delicacy of the assistants and volunteers is infinitely gentle in every community we meet. L'Arche in Kaunas is no exception. Each core member, assistant and volunteer receives a prize during the evening.The prize for the best dancer, the best joker or the best photographer, to tremendous applause. The community also knows how to flood the room with a silent ovation, especially for Marius, a Transformers fan who can't stand the noise.
The enthusiasm of the community resonates within us. Gedas, community leader, has these words to introduce the evening: "Our community is in its adolescence". It is rich in dreams, rich in projects and the energy is overflowing from all sides. Two essential points stand out above all. To support the autonomy of the core members as much as possible. And to bring everyone to the best of their abilities, or even a little more. You will find these two aspects in many places, of course. But what sets the 'Kauno Arkos bendruomenÄ—' apart is the way they put them into practice. Three people are dedicated to empowering core members, as part of the government's de-institutionalisation programme. They support Edita in her process of lifting her guardianship, an important moment for Edita. They translate into pictograms and simplified language the legal documents that the core-members have to sign. Among other things. Each room, each cupboard, each notice has its pictograms. What a support for everyone, including foreign volunteers who are not familiar with Lithuanian. One last detail: a core member takes part in the recruitment interviews for the assistants.
The commitment to do better can also be seen in the ceramics made in the Nordic minimalist style by the community and in the marketing of its products. Yes, there is a debate between what more can be produced and the time shared together. Because the community is not a business. Gedas simply answers 'that we should not fear tensions. For it is in these tensions that the Community also grows". The same words as Jean-Paul, the first community leader of our community. The quest for 'better' also reminds us of the amazing work of L'Arche de La Rebellerie, in Anjou, to offer organic wines of the highest quality. Kaunas ceramics, La Rebellerie wines, the Pirmas Blynas social restaurant in Vilnius and Katimavik in Lyon are products and places where essential talents are expressed.
L'Arche in Kaunas has remained very experimental in its handling of subjects. Trying and learning. Trying to improve candle making by combining ceramics and silicone. Putting the talents of the assistants at the service of the Community. Solve the housing issue when a core member suddenly has no home. Welcoming core-members living in "state institutions" and starting a Social Workshop. Making Community.
Making community has long been an enigma for us. Why in so many different places, with different people from different cultures, do L'Arche communities work so well? We ask this question at every stage. What does "making community" mean to you? The answer is as amazing as it is unvarying: "it's the desire to do things together, and to know that there is always someone next to me to help if I need it". We love this simplicity which allows for so much diversity between communities. It puts fraternal relationships, trust and hope in the project of each community. It leaves open the possibility of experimenting with new forms.
It seems that we were the first friends of L'Arche "from afar" to come after the confinements, that we were a bubble of freshness for the Community and the assistants. The freshness is also in the youth and energy of the Community. Every place has its own history. The story of Kaunas is beautiful. Other friends of L'Arche "from afar" were actually present. Marcin, from the L'Arche project in Gdynia, had arrived by train and hitchhiking for a weekend in Lithuania. We were lucky enough to be his hitchhiker back home. Marcin, an unpredictable, unplannable meeting, volunteered in the Communities of Brussels, Cork and Wrocław, before becoming House Leader in Gdynia near Gdańsk.
Post-scriptum, Vincent - Lithuania is the extreme North-East of our journey. I was preparing for a return leg. Back to the European Union. Beginning of the return to Le Mans after the stage in Lviv, so intense for me. But I was not ready to start thinking about this return. I wasn't ready to present a QR code to buy food on the day we arrived in Lithuania. I was not ready to leave Ukraine. Every step is a new beginning. They are all asking to make room for new friends. Someone took care once again to smooth out our path. The new stage could begin. It was anything but a return. This return will certainly not exist because we will have to invent a new 'normal' life when we return home. To be present also in our community of La Ruisselée. To set up the dreams that are growing within us. And to keep the freshness and energy of Kaunas in our hearts.
Post-scriptum, Christine - This step was infinitely sweet. The sweetness of living in the middle of nature, among trees, lakes and the bright colours of autumn. The sweetness of living at the Lithuanian rhythm with long evenings after a 6pm meal. The sweetness of respecting the role of parents with maternity leave until the children are 3 years old. It was nice to be welcomed so warmly in several families of the Community, thanks to UgnÄ—, and to understand a little more the rich history of this country, so unknown in the West. The sweetness of being able to understand each other and exchange with Erika and Mantas while speaking English. It was nice to be welcomed in this radiant community and to start imagining an "after trip". Sweetness and freshness finally for this step in which I will draw for a long time, I believe, much inspiration and faith in mankind.
🇬🇧 The vibrant Youth of Lithuania