Friday, March 4, 2016

L'Arche Log- Day 7

Hello for the last time! I can't believe the week is over. We have had an incredible time here and are devestated that our time is coming to an end. Today was another fabulous day! We spent the morning talking with Karen about our week and experiences at L'Arche. Due to a chance of plans we headed to Gleaners for a tour. Gleaners is a Christian organization that uses donated vegetables that they dry to make soup mixes. These mixes are then sent to various countries around the world for people who have difficulty obtaining food. It was a truly incredible place! Everyone that works there is a volunteer and they have the process down to a science. They are extremely efficient! The manager, Sherry, told us that they make 25,000 servings of soup everyday! Once we were done we drove back to Hamilton for lunch at another wonderful place, 541 Exchange and Eatery. 541 is a volunteer based cafe. Almost all of the people that work there are volunteers (even some core members)! The food and conversation were wonderful! After a trip back to the Day Program for a little shopping, we went to our homes for the afternoon. Nathan and I were lucky enough to celebrate Laurence's birthday again! We decorated Cornerstone and went to Jack Astors for dinner. We had a great time! After dinner it was time to go to a fundraiser L'Arche was having at 541. Megan and I handled the donations at the door while the rest of the group sold drinks and desserts. We were lucky enough to have Paul (who came for music therapy on Wednesday) singing and playing guitar, and violin. There was also a lot of chatting and eating! Many of the core members came and it was sad to say goodbye to some of them who we won't be seeing tomorrow. On the bright side, we raised over $1,000 for L'Arche Hamilton! Due to Jeb's (and my) persistence we were invited back to Cornerstone to watch Inside Out. Thank you aging for following along all week! I have truly enjoyed telling you about our journey. I am so grateful for this experience. Each of the core members and assistants were truly unforgettable and we are thrilled that we had the opportunity to get to know each and every one of them. I feel as though I can't end the week without a Jean Vanier quote. I noticed one on a sign they had up at the cafe tonight that I feel encompasses what we gained from our time at L'Arche. "When we begin to believe that there is greater joy in working with and for others, rather than just for ourselves, then our society will truly become a place of celebration."

Thursday, March 3, 2016

L'Arche Log- Day 6

Hello all, it's Kara! Today was a truly wonderful day! We visited Daybreak,  which is a L'Arche community outside of Toronto. We arrived around 10:15 and were immediately greeted with coffee, which made some of us very happy! After a brief introduction and tour we all divided amongst the facilities at Daybreak. Emily and Nathan were at The Club and worked on crafts with the core members. Anna and Zack helped bake cookies at the Day Program. Megan and Jeb worked in the woodery making wood discs which are sold to educational companies and used in classrooms around the country! Fun fact, Daybreak is the only place in North America that makes this product. Lastly, I was in the craft studio helping with various projects. I was slightly intimidated at first because I am not crafty at all! However, I was immediately welcomed and it did not matter that my skills weren't up to par with the core members. After working hard all day, we met back at 4 to meet with Father George Strohmeyer (one of the founders of L'Arche Erie and retired Chaplin at Gannon) and Elizabeth Buckley. Elizabeth is a former nun who has founded multiple L'Arche communities. Throughout the hour we spent with them we gained a lot of wisdom and inspiration to live out a fulfilling and authentic life. When our hour was up we divided yet again to visit multiple L'Arche homes for dinner. We all felt extremely welcomed and the hospitality was incredible. We only had a limited time at the homes, before we headed back to Hamilton for the evening. We had a great reflection sharing stories about our days. It was a little sad tonight as we realized tomorrow is our last day here. However, we are looking forward to spending our last day at the day program and helping out with a coffee shop fundraiser in the evening. Thank you again for following along with our journey! To end the blog with a quote from Elizabeth, "Are your hands cold? That means you have warm hearts."

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

L'Arche Log Day 5

Hello lovely readers! This is group member Megan writing to you today. We had a very exciting day here in Hamilton. We were lucky enough to get to spend the afternoon with the Day Program here in L'Arche Hamilton. It was a pleasure to get to spend time with the core members who participate in this program. There are so many creative and talented members of this community. The art they create is beautiful to see. Every Wednesday in the Day Program they hold a group lunch, and we got to be a part of that. We assisted with preparing and setting up for the meal which was a delicious spaghetti dish and salad. Today we also celebrated the upcoming birthday of one of the core members Laurence. She will be turning 73 this Friday. The celebration involved a two layer banana and chocolate cake frosted by our group's very own Anna and Zach. It also involves a very wonderful tradition the keep here in L'Arche Hamilton where a candle is passed around and each person wishes the guest of honor a happy birthday and say some kind words about them. It was a treat to get to be a part of that.

Later in the afternoon we participated in music therapy with a very talented musician named Paul. He was immensely entertaining and engaging. He encouraged the core members to get involved and participate. Seeing how much the core members were enjoying themselves and hearing them sing was truly moving.

From the Day Program we went down the street to Ryerson Church to help clean and set their chapel for upcoming Tazie services. By the time we were done the chapel had been transformed with splashes of orange color all around meant to mimic the look of bright flames as well as other unique decorations. It was amazing to see how different the plain chapel ee started with looked when we were finished.

We then went our separate ways for dinners in our respective Hamilton homes. I went to spend the meal time with the wonderful woman of the Ladies Bungalow. It's always great when I get to see them.

After dinner many members of the L'Arche Hamilton community came together for a weekly evening prayer service. It was a very beautiful and spiritual experience. Our group actually got to participate in the presenting of this weeks gospel message which was Matthew 18: 21-35 which is "The Parable of the Unforgivig Servant". That was a lot of fun. It was really awesome to see the community coming together and know that it's a regular thing for them.

We concluded our evening in the best way possible way back at Sherman house with the assistants and core members. It started off with the resident troublemaker Alice starting a tickle fight with all of us chasing everyone around. That then escalated to a full scale indoor water fight. It was a fun time had by all that resulted in many laughs. It's definitely a memory I'll cherish for years to come.

As always thank you for reading our blog and supporting us while we venture on this journey. Please remember to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Also don't forget to check back in tomorrow on the latest happens here in Hamilton! Thank you all!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

L'Arche Log- Day 4

Hi everyone, it's Kara! Thank you for continuing to follow our blog. Today was a wonderful adventure! Due to the chance of a snowstorm, we headed out right on time to L'Arche Toronto. Emily was a great driver and despite a little bit of traffic we arrived safely. This was slightly frustrating for me as I felt frazzled because we were a little late. Our venue today was slightly different than what we've been used to this week. We were at the L'Arche Toronto Gathering Place. The building was an old church that has been converted to a facility for L'Arche. We were in their multipurpose room which they use for everything from worship to creative arts. After being welcomed immediately, we played a few "get to know you" games. Once acquainted, we did an activity in which we each chose different foam shapes to put in the center of the circle. We then discussed what bigger picture we saw in the shapes. Answers included everything from a shark to a Christmas tree to a city with a fountain. When we finished, we helped set up tables for lunch. I had the chance to talk Kynga and get to know her better. We had a great conversation about food, our heritage, and books. After lunch we watched a short video about one of the L'Arche Toronto homes. It was a beautiful video about Janet and the impact she made on her home and her assistant. We then spoke with John who is a director at L'Arche Toronto. He told us the story of Mel, a lovely gentleman who has left a lasting impression on the L'Arche community. Due to the inclement weather that was headed towards us, we decided it was time for us to head back to Hamilton. However, we couldn't leave Toronto without exploring the city! We stopped in a few shopping malls and browsed for a short time before grabbing a coffee for the car ride back. Because our plans had changed a little bit, we ate dinner out in Hamilton. We found a cool place called Salt Lick Smokehouse. We had a DELICIOUS meal and fabulous conversation! After dinner we came back to Sherman for the evening. We played "Chat Pack" which was a lot of fun. "Chat Pack" is a box of fun questions that range from "What month would you use to describe your personality?" to "What Olympic event would you like to compete in?" After this, we tossed the ball around and even one of the core members, Richard, played with us. It was incredible to see Richard become excited about playing with us. We ended our night with a reflection and discussion about our Love Languages. We are looking forward to spending an entire day tomorrow with L'Arche Hamilton. Despite the weather forecast we are not going to let the snow stop us! We are used to Erie winters after all...