Service by Presence First Meeting

Hello once more! It is Allie Again and in our group meeting last week we discussed the ideas of the service of presence, because in L`arche that will be our primary focus.

The meeting started with a self-expression exercise, which we did not know the meaning to at the beginning, but we used the time to come together and share how our lives have been over the past few weeks and ultimately grow closer as a team. The exercise revealed we all have common anxieties about the next couple of weeks, with finals and the holidays approaching quickly. We also decided our meetings will be our time to escape and decompress from these everyday stressors.

 The self-expression excise eventually tied into our overall goal for the week, because we viewed a video, about the people of L’ache and their wants, needs, and goals, which seemed to be very similar to most of ours. (The video can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj6GceipXmM&list=PL-6tfmk27t8dmx23j6sJx_LbzzU1dYtEt ,if you would like to view it) the basic human wants of the people with disabilities, were the same as the wants we all share. Many of our self-expression drawings showed our goals over the next couple weeks and how we all had them in common, and the life goals we have in common with the core members of L`arche.

                One of the topics we discusses, was how to incorporate our new knowledge into our acts of service. The one focus we want to have is a focus on the individual human being and the idea of understanding. Most of the people in L’arche said they did not like being misunderstood. The group discussed how we can all related to the feeling of being misunderstood, and how though our service, it was important to sit and listen to the core members of L`arche and give them the understanding they need.

                The main goal of out understanding, would be to focus on the mental and emotional needs of the people of L`arche. Unlike many other ABSTs we will be focusing on getting to know and understand the people while communicating with them and helping them fulfill their needs which cannot be done physically.

We also discussed how the trip not only aids the people of L`Arche, but will help us all grow in a better understanding of who we are and what we want to do. Maureen shared with us her experience at L`Arche in past years and how she grew throughout the trip. The growth will make us all more holistic human beings, and help us to create friendship bonds that will last. We are all very excited after our first group meeting and cannot wait to embark on our journey to L`Arche.