People with intellectual disabilities live in the shadows of a persistent view–present in all cultures–that they are the undesirables. This is one of our world’s significant injustices. It is one we can change.L’Arche International’s Web Series, “As I Am”, is an invitation to imagine the world differently and to rejoice in who you are as you are.

Episode 1: Meet Mateusz from L’Arche Poland – There is a gift in brokenness… if you can find it. In this first episode, Mateusz Jaworski from L’Arche Poland shares an inventive way of giving.

Episode 2: Meet Musa from L’Arche Kenya – For centuries, travel writing has shaped the way we view the world. But when’s the last time you heard from a travel writer with cerebral palsy? In this episode, Musa Kirokote takes us where dogs dress like humans and humans eat like goats. Imagine the world differently.

Episode 3: Meet Bogdan Senyk, from L’Arche Ukraine – grew up under a government that denied his existence. In this episode, he explains his method of civil resistance: joy.

What is meant by the word disability?

Episode 4: For Raffaella Monterosso, from L’Arche Italy, it means when your father grows old and there’s nothing you can do but love him. As L’Arche celebrates World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st, we honour all those with Down Syndrome who, like Raffaella, are taking care of their aging parents.

Episode 5: In the 1990s,autistic persons began using the internet to build online communities, breaking the myth that autism imprisons people in a solitary existence. In this episode, however, Larry Gourley finds a limit to the gift and reaches the edge of the internet.


Episode 6: If I Were a Color

People with disabilities are often more disabled by the societies they live in than by their bodies or diagnosis. In this episode, Nagat from L’Arche Egypt explains how she and her brother faced societies’ attempt to disable their humanity.

Episode 7: Beyond the Wall

When wars break out, many heroes go unnoticed. On International Day of People with Disability, L’Arche celebrates these unnoticed heroes everywhere, of every ability. In this episode, we share the story of Colonel N’Da from L’Arche Côte d’Ivoire and his decision to break down the walls that divide us.