Dear Community members:
It’s not long before our long-awaited Assembly starts!
We hope you enjoy the beautiful program we have prepared for you: it is full of inspiring stories, engaging activities, meaningful conversations. Each aspect will help you feel connected with the L’Arche family around the world.
A BIG thank you...
... to each delegate for the amazing work you are doing with your community. Together as L’Arche, we can listen, share and vote on the next steps to take.
Thank you for playing a vital part at this important moment in L’Arche’s story!
We are Claire (right) and Sylvie (left) from L’Arche in Paris!
Sylvie:
I’ve been in this community for 32 years...
Claire:
... and me for 7 years, after joining L’Arche in 2016, at Compiègne, then Trosly. In our super little zoom group, we meet delegates from two Canadian communities, and also from Chambéry and Lyon in France.
Sylvie:
I am making friends with Marie Paule, in Montreal.
Mandate work:
With 20 members of our community, we used images to show each part of the mandate. Each person went to the image that spoke to them most. Sylvie and I chose ‘Grow and Share’. After reflection and discussion, each person voted!
Good luck with your own reflections!
See you at IFA!
Delegates Meetings
On the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the Assembly, meetings have been organized for the delegates as follows: Please note that the first two meetings on the Reports take place BEFORE the Opening Ceremony.
Each will be held three times, so you can choose when to participate (the ones at 00:01 UTC will be in French and English).
During these meetings you are invited to share how you interacted with each of the themes / topics in your community, to listen to each other and ask questions to the people involved. You can of course also share beforehand around these themes on Slack and Facebook Members.
International Leaders and ISB Reports | Tuesday 20th June
EN/FR*: 00:01
EN/FR/ES: 10:00
EN/FR/ES: 20:00
Story of L’Arche | Wednesday 21st June
EN/FR: 00:01
EN/FR/ES: 10:00
EN/FR/ES: 20:00
Mandate | Thursday 22nd June
EN/FR: 00:01
EN/FR/ES: 10:00
EN/FR/ES: 20:00
The Voting
As we shared with you in the May letter, an important part of the Federation Assembly is voting. Delegates of confirmed communities will vote on behalf of their communities The voting will take place on the platform:
vote.associationvoting.com/larche
Each day, the voting will open immediately after the end of the delegates’ meeting at 1am UTC and remain open for 23 hours, until just before midnight.
More details on voting can be found here: bit.ly/IFA_vote_2023
Charter | Tuesday 20th June | 01:00 - 23:59 (UTC)
Reports | Wednesday 21st June | 01:00 - 23:59 (UTC)
Mandate, ISB members, the Transition Plan and the Federation Council | Thursday 22nd June | 01:00 - 23:59 (UTC)
Friends, can you hear the clock ticking?! 4 days till our Opening Ceremony!
Thank you and your delegates for all your prep since January. Our shared journey to the IFA! Well done to your delegates for their creativity and commitment.
Their work in your community, and on Zoom, Facebook, Slack and WhatsApp will help the Federation take big decisions together on the Final Draft Charter, the Mandate, Reports and transition plan.
Let’s make this IFA a week to remember!
Most communities have prepared a special program, symbols, and identified places in their communities to experience IFA2023.
I can’t wait to see your smiles on my screen!
P.S. Don't forget to join Slack.
This month's creative corner:
On the road to the Assembly 2023
Please do take videos and pics and upload them to the Facebook members page:
Let’s share our experience!
As we get closer to IFA 2023, which will be a new experience from our previous in-person meetings, the creative team is working hard to put final touches on making the Assembly as lively and nourishing as possible...
We encourage you to do the same.
Be creative in the ways that you know how. The creative scheduler, decorators, creative in our communication and translations, creative meal planners, musicians, those who make new things, those who make space for others.
Finally, let’s be creative in how we accept ourselves, where we are, as we are.
Together, we can bring ourselves to this time, together we can make something beautiful.
How to make your program For the week?
For the L’Arche International Federation Assembly
1 - Make a note of the official sessions which are for everyone.
2 – Make a note of the sessions which are just for the delegates.
3 – You’ll find it all in the mini-guide:
4 – Then choose what you're going to do. There are plenty of ideas for activities to help you reflect as a community, to prepare for the vote and exchange ideas with other communities.
5 - On the first day, you’ll find tips on how to make yourselves comfy together in front of the screen.
6 - For example: On Day 2, the Assembly will talk about water and money, so you can arrange to go for a drink and discuss who pays.
7 - For example: On day 3, the Assembly will be talking about air and about meetings, so you can practise breathing so you can speak in more peace.
8 - For Example: On day 4, there are ideas for exchanging views on the charter.
9 - And on day 5, you can invite lots of friends for the big Closing Celebration.
Other Ideas:
You'll find other ideas in your Newsletter's Creative Corner and in the IFA guide. Each day, share what you're doing via Slack or Facebook and also check out what others are doing.
Hello friends, we are Marie (left) and Emmanuella (right) can you guess where we might be from? Our yellow tees give it away!
We were happy to participate in the inclusive videoconference training and get to know other delegates and communicate with each other. We liked the way the presentations were done, as everyone found the opportunity to talk about their communities through the interactions.
The training was very enriching: it helped us to understand better how important it is to cultivate more patience when supporting a person with intellectual disabilities. It showed us how to bring about change in our community, here in Haiti. See you at the Assembly!
L'Arche Carrefour, in Haïti