Let me begin by sharing with you what Donie Hurley offered as an editorial for this issue. Donie is a core member at L’Arche Cork.

“Going to the Mercy Hospital, talking to the patients, playing cards with them, and bringing them some water were always important for me. I was happy to do that. Mercy Hospital is still special in my mind. I started going there in 1975. I used to live on my own, near the Mercy Hospital, on the corner. And I saw people going there. I was alone in the house and I was happy to go there and see people, and there was always someone you could talk to. In the hospital I was a porter. It was my voluntary work and I just got money from them for Christmas. I used to bring the blood and urine to the laboratory. I could also help the sick people. I could also get free food there as I did not have to cook for myself. And it was good for me.

Even when I was in L’Arche, I was always going to talk to the people and they were very good to me. Many of them said, ‘Thank you very much, Donie.’

Going to the hospital it was not always easy. There were also sad moments, when people, my friends, died there. A few years ago I wanted to stop going to the hospital, because at the end it was hard for me to see people dying. But I always pray for the patients who are there.

I came to L’Arche because I needed others. I wanted help and this is why Tim Kearney helped me. We all need each other -the patients and myself. The core members can help others as well. Everyone can do something. If everyone can do something the world will be better.

Even if I don’t want to go to the Mercy Hospital and if I cannot walk easily (I walk with a stick), it is important for me to always pray for peace. People are fighting all over the world and Donie is concerned about that. Especially in Northern Ireland. But what we can do is to keep praying for peace and make peace in our community and around us.”

This issue of ‘The Letters of L’Arche’ was, in large part, was prepared by people with a mental disability, like Donie. It contains a great variety of personal stories, reflections, and works of art about the role and place of people with a disability both within our communities and in society.
Under ‘On the Front Page’, you’ll meet Lior Liebling, the feature person of the film ‘Praying with Lior’. In the film, this young man with Down Syndrome celebrates an important moment in his life –his Bar Mitzvah, marking his full membership in the Jewish community.

Working with people with a disability, not as objects of care but as true partners, can sometimes be surprising. Anne Chabert d’Hières, in her article, shares some of these new experiences.
 
Nakanjako from Ouganda, Christopher from India, and Gabriel from Haiti all present, -through various techniques, their daily life and tasks in community, their passions and their dreams.

We have rights! People with disabilities have rights! What are they? We can learn it from Ken John Milne. His letter, written from Canada, is found in the ‘Opinion’ section. You’ll also see letters on other subjects there. In each case, the author has given an email address where you can respond sharing your point of view.

Happy reading!

Donie Hurley and Robert Laskowiecki
robert.laskowiecki@larche.org