El Arca’s Horizons Expand Beyond Buenos Aires: A Community of International Friends

El Arca Argentina, by virtue of belonging to an international federation of L’Arche communities, has a lot of contacts around the world.  Our director Patricia has regular communication with international L’Arche employees , the home receives cards and gifts from other L’Arche communities around the world, and in June of 2012, Patricia and Dani (workshop attendee) attended the international L’Arche conference in Atlanta, Georgia.  The most meaningful international connections that El Arca makes, however, are with the assistants from across the world who come to share daily life with the residents of the home.

             

Assistants have come to El Arca from Austria, France, the United States, and Colombia, and probably other places I don’t know about!  When I came back from my YAGM retreat, there were two visitors from Germany to greet me at El Arca!  Magdalena and Cornelia both graduated with degrees in special education in December, and before they start teaching in September, they are taking advantage of their free time to travel and volunteer in South America!  They are particularly interested in approaching projects that invest in the lives of people with disabilities, such as El Arca.  Cornelia was already familiar with L’Arche because she spent a year living in a L’Arche community in France, and Magdalena had spent six months volunteering in a residence for people with disabilities in Venezuela.  Those enriching experiences plus their academic expertise in special education and their energetic enthusiasm make Cornelia (Corni) and Magdalena (Lena) a dynamic duo!  

Here they are sitting beneath the "Cuaresma" (Lent) Poster: Lena (left) and Corni (right)

            

 Unfortunately, Corni and Lena could only stay for a month (they leave on Monday), but their short time with us has been so positive in so many ways!  They have tackled the project of organizing the house head on, one cupboard at a time, created a special game for Marcos, taught the acogidos in the workshop about numbers and prices, cooked delicious meals, and given us the gift of their affable presence.  In addition to being so helpful to El Arca, I personally have enjoyed their company, as they are roughly my age (25 and 26), and are just fun to talk to!  Corni has a quirky sense of humor that always makes me laugh, and it’s so impressive that she can deliver her jokes so smoothly considering the fact that she came to Argentina knowing very little Spanish.  She has been studying every day and is learning at a rapid pace!

Last night at the “Noche de Hogar” (the Home Night, which happens every Tuesday), we did something special to thank Corni and Lena for all they have offered during this month.  Each person had the opportunity to express thanks in his or her own way, and then we gave them a send-off blessing by placing our hands on their heads while praying “Our Father.”  Next, we had the girls play a trivia game, El Arca style!  We told them that their pilot, Osvaldo, wouldn’t give them their plane tickets unless they could answer all of the questions correctly.  Sandra asked them the trivia questions in two categories: Argentina and the El Arca home.  Luckily for them, Osvaldo was satisfied with all of their answers!  But before he could hand over the tickets, we sprung another challenge on them.  In blind folds, they had to work together to identify various objects from around the house, including the cleaning product “Cif,” one of Osvaldo’s diapers, a “bombilla” (the metal straw used to drink mate), and Sandra’s school notebook.  Again, luckily for them, they rocked it, and Osvaldo handed over their tickets, very officially made by me.  

Sandra the "azafata" (flight attendant) tries to stump the Germans.  Could you name five provinces of Argentina?  Two typical Argentine foods?  Two of Sandra's dreams?  What Osvaldo likes most other than soccer and food?  

What's the mystery object? 

One of Osvaldo's diapers

"What could they have possibly given us as farewell gifts?"

Oh, our very own personalized mates!  Mission accomplished!

But that’s not all!  No El Arca farewell celebration would be complete without a duet sung by Maxi and Lisa, a precedence that started with Padre Dani’s farewell party back in December.  We’ve got the routine down now.  We put on our shiny vests and sunglasses and grab our fake microphones.  Then, someone introduces us to the “crowd” and we come out to sing “Sweet Maria,” a song by Padre Dani’s former band “Dragon’s Dream.”  But of course this time we changed the lyrics to Sweet Cornelia and Sweet Magdalena.  As usual, we were a hit. 

It is truly amazing and beautiful how quickly Lena and Corni adapted to the El Arca lifestyle and bonded with each of the acogidos and other volunteers.  They're just another example of how the communion between people with and without disabilities that unfolds in El Arca transcends boundaries of language, culture and nationality.  This longing to belong to a community of love, humility, and growth brings us together.  Otherwise this eclectic group of people from around the world would never have met.  

Just a few days before Lena and Corni depart for the next destination on their South American journey (Uruguay), a new assistant from Colombia will be arriving!  David is a musical therapist and is planning on living in the home for the next year.  We are all looking forward to his arrival, especially since Kait is currently the only live-in assistant in the home.  It will be a relief once Kait has a full-time partner in the home to help her out!  I’m really interested to learn about Colombia and to see how David will incorporate his musical therapy talents into the life of the home!  

So, as is customary for El Arca, we say goodbye to two friends but welcome a new one!