tionships, especially inten-tional ones, require work, and the reality is that some days I am too tired, too dis-tracted, or too busy to go out of my way for someone else. Luckily, inspiration sits at every corner and we can see it when we open our eyes to see beyond ourselves. Han-

(con‘d on page 3)

nah MacNeil is someone who inspires me.

There is a semi-opaque plas-tic container sitting on the shelf in my office. Through the sides, you can see vari-ous denominations of dollar bills that have taken the shape of the round vessel.

Great things happen in

small moments

-by Lisa Sinclair

As we head into our advent and Christmas celebrations for 2014, I would like to share a story. It’s not about the celebration of Christmas in particular, but about the spirit of kindness we often associate with Christmas, that is, more often than not during the holidays, lost. I'm not sure where it has gone, and I am fearful that kind-ness, if we don’t hold on to it tightly, may start to disap-pear more and more fre-quently.

Recently I have taken part in a discussion or two pertain-ing to generosity and caring and how those characteristics look in our day-to-day living. As with many things in life, generosity and caring and their manifestations are as peculiar to an individual as hair or eye color. They also wax and wane depending on where we are in own life circumstances. I am guilty of living in the rising and fall-ing cycle of kindness. Rela-

November 2014

Newsletter L’Arche Cape Breton

L’Arche is an International Federation of faith-based communities creating homes and day programs with people who have

developmental disabilities. Today there are over 100 communities throughout the world.

Our Mission Statement: L’Arche Cape Breton is an ecumenical, Christian community. At the heart of our community are people with developmental disabilities and those who wish to share life with them. We are inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s vi-sion of community, based on a life of simplicity, sustained by the work of our hands, and nourished by the mystery of God’s presence in all religions, races, and creeds. At the heart of our unity must be the poorest, the weakest, and those who suffer; those for whom God’s preference is shown and with whom God identifies.

L’Arche Cape Breton

Whycocomagh, NS B0E 3M0 phone: (902) 756-3162 fax: (902) 756-3381

e-mail: larchecb@larchecapebreton.org website: www.larchecapebreton.org

Inside this Newsletter:

At L’Arche, we are loved for who we are, not for what we do

2

News from the L’Arche Cape Breton Development Office

2

Appreciating the unique gifts of each person

3

Great things happen in small moments

3

In community, everyone’s life is a profound and important story

4

Taking time to celebrate the moments that matter

5

Spotlight on John Buddy Payne 6

50FEST in Halifax 7

Hannah MacNeil (centre) is pictured with Josh and Jacob Donham on the day she gave her gift to the community.

-by Cathy MacMillan

Forgiveness and celebra-tion are at the heart of community.” Of all the quotes I have read and heard about L’Arche, or community in general, this is the one that I think of and refer to most often. It’s a quote from Jean Va-nier and I believe it speaks quite clearly to what we try to live each day. For-giveness is obviously im-portant as we try to live each day in community with people from a variety of cultures, languages, re-ligious beliefs and ability levels, but it is the celebra-tion half of this quote that fills community life.

Birthdays and anniver-saries are the two dates we all celebrate each year. The day we were born and the day we arrived in L’Arche are the official reasons we gather together to remind each other of the gifts we bring to our com-mon life and that we are loved for who we are, not for what we do. But those are only the tip of the ice-berg. Each day we try to celebrate all that life brings our way. Here in community I have learned so much about celebrating all moments of life. The

joy to be found around the dinner table when conversation and laugh-ter flow easily and the food is good. The mo-ments of spontaneous dance when the music strikes everyone just right and everything that needs to be done can wait a while longer. The time of reflection at the end of the day when we share what we lived that day and remember the people we carry with us in our memories. And the times we gather to celebrate the life of someone we love who has died with songs and stories, tears and laugh-ter.

Life is busy and full and it easy to lose sight of what is not on our to do list. I know I am often guilty of forgetting to look up and look around and really see the people God has given me to share my journey: guilty of forgetting it is because of who I am that I am called to be here. And then Ed tells me he likes me and he’s glad I’m here, Joan tells me she misses me, and Maggie says my name in her own unique way and

At L’Arche, we are loved for who we are, not for what we do

Page 2 Am Furan

with the joy that accom-panies it and I remem-ber.

I remember I am here to live these relationships fully and to celebrate each moment. To sit in the quiet and be with the person who invites me in while they talk of the friends who have died or the pain they have lived in their life. To laugh with the person who shares with me a mo-ment from their day that meant a lot, a moment that brought them joy. To feel with the person who isn’t well and may-be can’t tell me exactly what is going on within their body. To remind those who need remind-

Cathy, and Judy McEwan, enjoyed the Celebrate 50! festivities in Halifax in October

News from the L’Arche Cape Breton Development Office

* Springfest 2014 was held in Judique on May 15th and in Sydney on June 7th. Springfest is L’Arche

Cape Breton’s signature fundraising event, and this year was our most successful to date. Thank you to ECCU Partnership Commit-tee, the generous corporate sponsors, those who donated to the auction, Danena MacLellan and her team for the beautiful meal in Judique, and to our auctioneers Bob MacEachern and Kevin Deveaux. Without the generous support of the wider community Springfest would not be possible, and we are very grateful to all those who purchase tickets and bid at the auction.(con’d page 5)

* The community was awarded a grant from The Enabling Accessibility Program which enabled us to improve accessibility at The

Hope Chest used clothing store in Mabou.

We also received funding from RFANSwhich will allow us to purchase new appliances for the Sunflower Garden Program.*

Several young people from our area enjoyed two months of fun activities at Ride the Wave Summer Program. (con’d on page 5)

ing that they have gifts to offer this world that make it a better place just by their being in it.

Celebration is not just about the big moments or the yearly events, it is about the simple moments of daily encounters and how we live each moment of each day. It’s about knowing what keeps a heart thriving. I feel the heart of community beats loudest and strongest when we are able to cele-brate each other regularly in all of our differences and similarities, forgiving each other as needed.

-by Rose Croft How happy and excited are you when you celebrate something? We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, holi-day’s -all kinds of personal and special occasions. Cele-bration is active, specific and abundant. There is always something to celebrate; many things to celebrate. We just came back from a weekend of celebrating L’Arche in our Jubilee year; the whole L’Ar-che Atlantic region got to-gether for 2 days of joy, fun, excitement and partying with each other. We were able to celebrate through great mu-sic, food, and good friends. It was really great to have so many people all together enjoying each other’s compa-ny and our common ground. One of the things I love about L’Arche is the open-ness to celebrate everyone’s different gifts, and the ways to uniquely celebrate each person that we live with. Birthday parties are always a great way to celebrate each person, uniquely and with

gratitude. But also knowing that cele-brating is not just about the party, but knowing the per-son, knowing what they would love and appreciate. This year for Maggie’s birthday party, she had a room full of all of her bears (and some of her favourite people), and if you know Maggie you know how much she loves bears, it was so great to see her genuine excitement and joy when she opened the doors to see what was inside, and her continued joy for the days after as she replayed it to others. It is not just about celebrat-ing special events in each person’s life, but what each person brings to every day. That people are good at welcoming, cooking, deco-rating or even organizing-it is the little things that we celebrate all the time. At Korban house there always seems to be many things to celebrate! Whether it is that it is time to go to work,

movie nights, that it’s “moony out”, dressing up fancy or just spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen. And sometimes in the busy pace of everyday life you can forget to appreciate the small things that seem ordi-nary like a good song com-ing on or a great meal to-gether. And remembering that doing the things you love is way of celebrating our life together.

information, I knew their names were Josh and Ja-cob.

For about 4 days I would go on the computer and look at the L’Arche page. I would go on the photo gal-lery and I would see pic-tures of Josh and Jacob. So for about a day I thought Josh and Jacob were from L’Arche but then I realized that it was their dad Silas that helps with L’Arche but when I found out more in-formation about L’ Arche Cape Breton I fell in love with L’Arche. I would go on the website and look at the page "how can you

When you lift it, you can feel the weight of the metal coins, and shaking it, you hear the clink-clink of coins hitting against one another. These bills and coins belong to a donation that I received from Silas via a 12-year-old girl named Hannah MacNeil.

This is Hannah’s story in her own words:

It began when I went to church with my grandmother in Glendale. During mass I saw these two boys that seemed special in a way. Then when I found out more

help" and it said you can donate shoes clothes etc. But I thought about it and then I decided to donate money and then they can do whatever with it.

Then one day when I was up in Cape Breton with my Grammy I brought my money to church just in case Silas was there and then he was so I gave him the money and I got a pic-ture taken with Josh and Jacob and the money jar.And about how I raised the money. Well, it took m about a year to raise about 50$. I raised it when I

Appreciating the unique gifts of each person

Great things happen in small moments (con’d from page 1)

Newsletter L’Arche Cape Breton Page 3

Maggie Rose Sutherland (right) is pictured with her good friend and fellow Korban House resident, Rose Croft.

Unity in

Diversity

would be done for the day, and I would have a few coins in my pocket. I would put it in that container, and soon enough it added up.

On the wall in one of the rooms at Shalom is a wall hanging that reads, “Great things happen in small mo-ments.” Christmas will be here before you know it. I pray that you live the season in the midst of many, many small moments of genuine kindness that will inspire you all year long.

- by Marcel Visser

I was asked to participate in the panel discussion with Alan MacMaster represent-ing the perspective of a house assistant. Here is what I shared:

When I learned and heard stories about L’Arche, I was inspired by the opportunity to be on equal ground with peo-ple who have disabilities. I saw a community where eve-ryone has a voice, even those who don’t speak. I knew be-fore even coming that this was a way of living that the world needs more of, and that I wanted to be a part of it.

Since coming I’ve had the privilege of sharing life with dozens of core members and assistants, and in doing so I’ve learned about the great amount of effort, commit-ment and humility that it takes to fulfill a goal like “giving everyone a voice”. Giving someone a voice re-quires, first of all, learning what language they speak and then finding ways to con-vey their message to the world.

People with disabilities, like all people, have lots to say. And among this population is an unbelievably diverse array of communication styles and methods. It can take a long time, years even, to learn the

language of someone who communicates differently.

As a house assistant, I spend a lot of time inter-preting and being interpret-ed. I’ve lived with people who are hard to understand and I’ve learned that it can take a lot of time and effort to get our messages across to each other. As an aside, I understand there are those within DCS who would have people in my position be more “productive” and therefore support more people at a time or accom-plish more while providing support. What suffers in a situation like that is rela-tionship and taking the time to understand each other.

So again, if at least one person learns and under-stands your language, then your story can be told to the world. We try to do this in L’Arche and it’s vital that we do, as it’s the only way to find out what our core members actually need. Deeper even than this is the belief we hold that everyone’s life is a profound and important story. So we value making these stories known. We do that through things like Springfest, Christmas Pag-eant, newsletters and so on.

L’Arche has gotten very good at “handing the mi-

Page 4 Am Furan

crophone over” to people with disabilities (figuratively and literally, if you’ve ever been to one of our events!). This is a necessary skill that journal-ists and politicians also need to learn. It is how we all learn that everyone has a unique story and there-fore unique needs and hopes and dreams.

And that’s a crucial point. It’s obvious, but needs to be said: having a disability, even a particular disability, does not make you the same as every other person with that disability. So we need you to help us fight this notion.

The friends of mine who have disabilities have taught me a great deal, most of all about the hu-mility of accepting help. This is an important lesson because it is humility that makes everything I’ve talked about possible. It is humility that allows us to listen to the story of some-one who we think is less intelligent than us. It takes still more humility to ac-cept that this person might have something to teach us. That they might know something we don’t know. It is lack of humility that assumes the needs of all autistic 20 year olds are the same.

In community, everyone’s life is a profound and important story

Marcel and his daughter Ava

I’ve also learned that dignity does not somehow vanish the moment we need help with the basics of daily life. And in our society right now, the value of this lesson seems obvious. Societies need to recognize that my need for help does not diminish my dignity and value. That fact that I might need help and I’m hard to understand does not make my contribution any less important. In fact, in L’Arche we argue that the contributions and gifts of people with disabilities are exactly what the world needs.

Our Needs…

As we approach the holiday season, some of our wonderful friends have been ask-ing if there is anything in particular the community may need as we prepare for the upcoming winter. Currently, our houses are in need of the following items:

New pillows for our beds

Twin sheet sets and comforters

Bath towels, hand towels and wash cloths

Craft supplies such as paints, brushes, yarn, etc…

Snow shovels and driveway salt/sand

Tableware and Cutlery for eight

All of us at L’Arche Cape Breton appreciate the generosity of our many friends!

Forgiveness and Celebration

Forgiveness and celebration are at the heart of community. These are the two faces of love. Celebration is a communal experience of joy, a song of thanksgiving. We celebrate the fact of being together; we give thanks for the gifts we have been given.

Celebration nourishes us, restores hope, and brings us the strength to live with the

suffering and difficulties of everyday life.

- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth

„The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.“

-Helen Keller

-by Lesa McHugh

There are times we all cele-brate. The birth of a child, a marriage, a life, a birthday, a holiday, a new job, and so on. These are the times we get together with friends and family, we eat, we pray and plan. The stores remind us (often months ahead of time) to spend money and prepare to celebrate events properly. I have recently celebrated my first year anniversary of be-ing welcomed into the L’Ar-che Cape Breton community. As I was preparing to write this article about my percep-tion of celebrating, L’Arche has been celebrating its 50th Anniversary. With much ex-citement and planning, the celebration has been amazing with a surplus of photo op-portunities. But I wish to share with you what L’Arche has taught me about celebrat-ing; the moments of celebrat-ing our time together without all the fanfare and photos.

The belonging. The happi-ness.

I have always been a very busy and productive per-son. I had always prided myself on being well orga-nized and able to be work fulltime, make supper for my family every night, help my daughter with her homework, be a part of many community groups, and still have time to read. Being a part of L’Arche has given me to opportunity to celebrate the small, tender, important moments that I was chronically overlook-ing. The first definition of the Merriam-Webster dic-tionary states celebration means “to do something special or enjoyable for an important event, occasion, holiday, etc.” L’Arche has taught me to celebrate the special moments that hap-pen every day, and often so quietly, that if you are not listening or paying atten-

tion you may miss them. Some days, it is a smile or grin from someone who is happy to be sharing a song with you or some silly story. Sometimes it is having a recipe become a treat we can share. Sometimes it is practicing a human pyramid (just the two of us). LOL! But

News from the L’Arche Cape Breton Development Office (con’d from pg 2) Thank you to Inverness County Recreation Associa-tion, North Inverness Commu-nity Healtlh Board and the Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority, as well as local businessess and service groups for their sup-port of this program.

* Special thanks to the many

musicians who performed at our fundraising concert at

Mabou Hall on September 4th.

* Thank you to the St. Peter’s

Lions Club for organizaing the lovely concert on Sept.

28th, and for their generous

gift.

Taking time to celebrate the moments that matter

Newsletter L’Arche Cape Breton Page 5

* The annual East Coast

Credit Union BBQ in support of our Day Programs was

held on September 11th. Over $3300 was raised this year! Thank you to ECCU staff, board mem-

bers, and volunteers who made this day possible.

* The lucky winner of a

beautiful Christmas Quilt will be announced at the Christ-mas Pageant on December

7th. Thank you to Barbara

Deal for creating this beauti-ful quilt, and to Heather Mac-Innis, for selling almost $1400 in tickets!

* We are also selling tickets

on a fancy trail bicycle donat-ed by Frameworks Cycle and Fitness, Sydney. Thank you to Bill Goldstone for his con-

tinued generosity. Tickets on the bicycle are available at ECCU branches and at The Mull Restaurant. *Tickets on the NHL Hockey Ticket Package (airfare to Toronto, 2 nights accommo-dations, and 2 tickets to Montreal vs Toronto game) will be available in Novem-ber. These tickets are a great Christmas gift idea! Get yours at The Ark Store or The Hope Chest, any branch of ECCU, or call Josie or Debbie at 902-945-2283. Visa and MasterCard accept-ed. *Sincere appreciation to Cyr-il LeBlanc and the Nova Scotia Land Surveyors Asso-ciation for the Silent Auction in support of L’Arche Cape Breton’s day programs held on Oct. 16th at their annual

conference. Over $3200 was realized at the Silent Auction. Thank you for kindness!

often it is simply being to-gether.

So wherever you are, reading this article, pause. Take a look around. You too, may experience the contentment celebrating the moments that matter.

Staff of the Old Hen Cafe pose for a photo, (back, left to right) Tanya Edwards, Rodney Nicholson, Lesa McHugh, Jonathan MacEachern (front) Joan MacDonald.

David Hatcher dances with his new friend Lucy Digout at the concert held at St. Peter’s Lions Hall in September.

-by Sabine Fernandes His Fedora cocked rakishly on his thoughtful head, Bud-dy Payne surveys the serene beauty of the Bras D’Or Lake that his home, and the place I have now come to call my house, overlooks. We can see it from our spot on the wharf as the cold shadows steadily settle around us. There is a peace in Buddy’s sharply cut fea-tures this waning day, his brown/green eyes and the corners of his lips, the same ones that can often rearrange themselves to crack into a wide grin or a mask of fe-rocity that I can never cease to marvel at. These tides of unadulterated emotion ebb and flow with only the occa-sional moment’s notice. The twilight sky has seams of orange streaked across it. The lake is silent. Buddy looks on, breathing in the vastness with an equanimity that I come close to envying. Some days, we hurl rocks into the water and watch the still waters ripple. At other times we yell into the dis-tance, waiting for our muf-fled echoes to return to us, reminding the world of our voices. But today, we are just grateful for a little quiet company and a postcard of a view. Sharing life with Buddy Payne is not always a pic-ture of tranquility. Most days are turbulent. Strong

wills tend to collide. And I don’t think either of us would have it any other way. Buddy Payne is a man who believes in standing his ground and I am often guilty of not knowing how to take a step back. We dis-agree. Some days we go to war on each other. There is fretting and fuming, each pushing the other to the brink of anger. Tears wet sleeves and sighs weigh the air down. But then, those long arms of his reach out and embrace me in a hug that doubles up as an affec-tionate, reconciliatory head-lock. Buddy Payne is a for-giving man. For all the in-justices this world has dealt him, in fate, in a history of institutionalism, in my im-patience, he never says goodnight without making amends. We fight, but we laugh more often, loudly and without reservation. I have scarcely seen a face upon which joy was etched upon so deeply. Buddy’s smile is a thing of beauty. He punch-es the air in jubilation with a tightly clenched fist, makes triumphant exclamations of his characteristic ‘Yeah!’ clinks his mug of hot choco-late, beer or water in cele-bration and loses himself in a cackling stream of uncon-trollable laughter for all the little things in life I often forget to celebrate. A good meal, a sunny day, mass,

Spotlight on…

John Buddy Payne

Page 6 Am Furan

spending a dollar or calling a good friend. If I have learned anything from Bud-dy, it is to live, unapologeti-cally and wholly. To simply be and embrace every pos-sible moment we are con-fronted with. It is hard to describe the complex individual that Mr. Payne is. He is an artist, who meticulously makes Paper Mache bowls at the Angel’s Loft. He is a florist who runs a flower delivery business over the summer months. He is a film enthu-siast who often seems to live from one Friday movie night to another. He is a ladies’ man, who appreci-ates a pretty woman when he sees one. He is a perfec-tionist, who insists on com-pleting every task he is as-signed with precision. He

is a fisherman, who has a knack for ringing in a good catch. He is a proud Cana-dian. There are people who know Buddy better than I do who may have nicer words and anecdotes to describe him. But to me, above all other things, Bud-dy Payne is a friend who challenges me to grow but still accepts me at my worst. And that is more than I could ever ask for.

Buddy as a Nascar driver at the Halloween party this year

-by Jenn Power

October 17th-19th, more than 300 members and friends of L’Arche Atlantic gathered in Halifax to celebrate the 50th anniversary of L’Arche around the world. The week-end was packed with events! On Friday evening, we ex-plored the theme of vulnera-bility through a panel discus-sion called “The Strong and the Fragile: The Unexpected Gift of Vulnerability”. Globe & Mail journalist Ian Bqrown shared the insights he gleaned through raising his son, Walker, who has a pro-found disability. Ian’s mes-sage was essentially that, through confronting and wel-coming the vulnerability in others, particularly in people with intellectual disabilities, we can embrace the vulnera-bility in ourselves. Rather than being undone by this perceived weakness, it can be a means through which we become more human - more open, forgiving, gentle, and

are all the small moments – moments of beauty, joy, relationship, and grace. There was the moment when Joe White of L’Arche Antigonish took the stage with the Men of the Deeps, unsure of his footing and no longer able to walk unas-sisted, he confidently took his place at centre stage, and was welcomed with open arms and more than a few tears. We remember the moment when Marcel and Mark strutted confi-dently to the microphone at the Lions Head Tavern and, through their broad smiles and laughter, belted out the words to “Teddy Bear”. We are grateful for the mo-ment when, amidst the fid-dle and guitar tunes of Bev-erly MacLean and friends, dozens of people took to the stage to dance without a shred of self-consciousness, but all kinds of rhythm and plenty of joy. And most of all, we give thanks for the way these moments, and so many more, reminded us of

compassionate. The world of success and progress can be enriched by an encounter with fragility. Ian’s sharing led to an honest and insight-ful conversation among everyone present, including disability activists, family members, academics, and members of L’Arche.

On Saturday, celebrations continued with the 50FEST, an afternoon of music, food, and interactive art that showcased the passions and talents of members of L’Ar-che across Atlantic Canada. Karaoke at a local bar com-pleted Saturday’s festivities. And on Sunday, friends at Trinity Anglican Church welcomed us for a joyful service of thanksgiving.

Of course, it is not the events themselves that we remember, or that were the most nourishing and life-giving. What we celebrate about our weekend together

Newsletter L’Arche Cape Breton Page 7

Celebrating moments of beauty, joy, relationship and grace

the precious gift we have been given in L’Arche, a gift that reveals beauty in unex-pected places, and that calls us to celebrate all the small moments in our everyday lives.

L‘Arche members from Cape Breton, Antigonish, Wolfville, Halifax and St. John came together in Halifax to cele-brate the 50th Anniversary of L’Arche in the world.

Patrick MacGrath from L’Ar-che St. John sang and played his guitar at 50FEST in Hali-fax.

Tri-mac Toyota, Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia is pleased to sponsor L’Arche Cape Breton’s Christmas newsletter. Everyone at Tri-mac Toyota extends their best wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas season to one and all!

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L’Arche Cape Breton’s Christmas Pageant “THE THREE KINGS”

Sunday, December 7th, 2pm at the Whycocomagh Education Centre

Crafts ** Tea & Treats ** Free Admission

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