Una Familia Mundial
Being a part of the Solidarity Committee gave me the opportunity to not only raise awareness within the L’Arche Sudbury Community about El Arca Argentina but to be blessed with an opportunity to visit them!
The Trip
 Ken Kidd (Sudbury), Charlene Hahn (Stratford), Michael Barry (Hamilton) and I started our adventure with our Learn to Speak Spanish and The Lonely Planet’s Argentina in tow, at the Toronto Airport.
Due to the weather our flight was delayed, and our baggage was nowhere to be found! All was well, though, because Charlene had her trusty hula hoop on hand; and Ken, Michael, a few Baggage Claim people and I had a great time watching her twirl away.
One night in a hotel, two flights and three countries later we arrived in beautiful Buenos Aires.
El Arca del Argentina
The El Arca Argentina Community founded in 2003 has one home, so far. The Core Members include Sandra, Maximilliano both in their mid teens and Osvaldo, the patriarch of the group. Gael is from France; he has lived in the home for almost a year. Then there is Fernando, the Community Leader. The home greatly relies on and appreciates the constant support of the volunteers.
 It was Ken’s birthday, so the community threw a grand celebration. It was also a “Welcome to El Arca” Celebration. We met most of the board members and their families along with the volunteers and people in the neighborhood. They treated us to a delicious and traditional BBQ. Ken was quite pleased as meat is his favorite type of food.
 During the celebration I had a feeling of such familiarity. Most of the people around us spoke Spanish and there weren’t many faces we recognized; it was looking around and seeing smiles and people celebrating each other that created a sense of home. I suddenly felt as if this was home and I had known these people for years.
In L’Arche Sudbury, meal and prayer time is my favorite time of the day; I found this to be also true with El Arca Argentina. It is a time that many families, due to busy schedules, don’t make a priority. The very essence of Community is felt at this time of the day.
Speaking Together
 It was time of the day where Sandra and Maxi would ask us to teach them some English phrases. “Hello, how are you?”, “I like you”, “Good Night” and “Sweet Dreams”, were just a few phrases they learned. The language was not a barrier as we were able to communicate through gestures and our Spanish book. We would also share stories and traditions about our communities in Ontario and get to know each other.
Feeling at home
Each time we were introduced to someone, we would receive a traditional kiss on the cheek and hand on the shoulder. It was that action that seemed to unite us all and melt away the feeling of “stranger” between us. Coming from a society and culture where communicating physically is not the norm, it was refreshing and welcomed by all of us.
We all felt an instant connection to the El Arca Community. Michael said, "I like the people at L'Arche Argentina because they are good friends to us and they make funny jokes." I thought Charlene summed the trip up best when she said,
It was an amazing trip. I felt very lucky to have been asked to go and experience L'Arche in another country. Everyone in El Arca made me feel welcomed. It was nice to know that L'Arche can be found anywhere and that even being in a different culture and not being able to understand the language, it still felt like home.
Somos una familia salta junto por un objetivo comun. |