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My Experience of L'Arche Leaving
home (England) for the first time, a naive 18 year old just out of school,
the decision to come to Canada – to L’Arche Winnipeg – was an
immense one for me. To fund my trip to Canada, I worked in a cosmetics
factory 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. It was, without exception, the most
monotonous experience of my life so far. All that got me through each day
was the thought of how much money I was earning as each painstaking minute
ticked away. When I imagine the complete opposite of this brain deadening,
uninspiring student job, what do I conjure up? L’Arche.
After just three months
with L’Arche Winnipeg, I already feel like I’ve had the most thought
provoking time of my life. Here, the rewards you get for working from dawn
until dusk do not show up in your wallet or your bank statement. You
cannot even hold them in your hand. The rewards are in the smiles, the
embraces, and the laughter found in the homes of L’Arche.
In such a short period of
time I already feel that I have learnt many lessons that I could not have
learnt from any teacher or any book. I have learnt about human nature,
human values, and also a great deal about myself and the way I want to
live. Whether I have brought anything to L’Arche Winnipeg remains to be
seen, but there is no question that I will be taking a lot away from it
– not the least a photo album of great memories. L’Arche has revealed
to me what can be achieved, what people can make possible, and that true
equality does exist.
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Coming to L'Arche Winnipeg
With
a plane ticket from Austria to Winnipeg in my hand and the desire to help
people, I started my journey in L’Arche Winnipeg. All my fears that I
had brought along in coming to a different country thousands of miles away
from my family and home were taken away by the warm welcome and the
embraces of Jay with his huge smile and his big blue eyes that say “just
trust me”.
After just a few weeks with the people in my house, I felt they had
created a new home for me, where I found love and friendship. It was also
for me a new beginning – of seeing life from a different perspective,
with another way of understanding our busy world with my heart, and to see
it with open eyes. The most fascinating gift I received from the people in
L’Arche Winnipeg is their ability to accept everybody for who they are.
After just a few months of living with them, I found so much comfort and
trust that I felt I had a new family made up of many friends.
I
think at this point that my goal, with my plane ticket from Austria to
Canada and my desire to help people, has changed. I thought I would only
be here to help them with their daily needs, but I see finally how much
they helped me to grow and find my way through this busy world. My heart
was touched in many different ways and with every passing day, my heart
was growing more and more in love. I cannot even find the words to explain
how much they helped me, step by step, to grow in my life and I am glad I
didn’t miss out on this.
Sometimes there are no words strong enough to reassure me, but a
gentle hug and a simple smile will do it. Barbara brings a smile to my
face when she tells me every night before going to bed “Good
night Jasmina, sweet dreams; don’t let the bed bugs bite”. It is
with all these little things that they give me a wonderful gift – that
of loving me for who I am. I think that if all this was not a part of my
life, I wouldn’t be able to be me - the loved Austrian girl!
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"It's My Birthday!"
As soon as we walked into
the bank, I knew it would be a long wait. It was Friday after work, and
the people in the long lineup all seemed impatient and anxious to be done
with their banking – and be out of there. Faces were stone cold, no one
was speaking, you could feel the tension in the air. I was with Michelle
to help her with her banking, and she knows all the tellers. From the back
of the lineup, Michelle shouted to one of the tellers: ”It’s my birthday
today!” The teller wished her a happy birthday, and asked her how she
would be celebrating. “I’m going bowling!” replied Michelle. Other tellers
wished her a happy birthday. The person in front of Michelle in the lineup
turned around and wished her a happy birthday; then another person, and
another one. Then people started talking to each other, smiles on their
now relaxed faces.
I was amazed by the
transformation that happened in a matter of minutes, because of Michelle.
And I thought: this is a real gift that our people have – to create
community, to bring together people who otherwise would not relate or dare
open up to each other.
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