I am drawn by the “1001 Drawings” initiative.

When I met Raphael and Philippe, with whom I started L'Arche almost 50 years ago, they were living in an institution, cut off completely from the outside world, without meaningful work and without hope.

Happily, our industrialized societies have changed significantly since then. Institutions such as these have been closed and, as a result of the recognition and enforcement of the rights of people living with intellectual disabilities, new paths have opened for them. But, for all that, have we really opened our hearts? Have we really changed our view of the Raphaels and Philippes of this world, or our view of intellectual disability?
The activity proposed is disarmingly simple, and it reminds me of the lack of pretension I see daily among the people of L’Arche. But at the same time, this activity is a kind of “foot-washing.” Some might be shocked by it; others embarrassed. Nevertheless, it is an act that moves one along the difficult path from the head to the heart. In tracing, from an ordinary photograph, the facial features of someone affected by an intellectual disability, we must take time to really look at the person. In posting the drawings on the Internet, we are using its virtual space in a unique and original way, virtually “posting” acts of tenderness.

Last year, in the aftermath of the bloody events that tore Kenya apart, I visited the community of St. Martin, a village where 2,000 people living with intellectual disabilities were gathered and supported. It was—and they were —a ray of sunshine and love in the midst of a country where the threat of genocide was very real. It was also living proof that another kind of world is possible: a world of generosity and of mutual caring and assistance, which recognizes that all people—whoever they are and whatever their capacities – belong there.

Today, men, women, and children affected by intellectual disabilities are among the most oppressed people in the world. In totalitarian regimes, in war-torn countries, and in places devastated by natural disasters, the Raphaels and Philippes are always the first victims. But they are also the first ones to call us to acts of tenderness, and so I invite you to participate in “1001 Drawings.”

Jean Vanier

September 12, 2008