Disabled, but "not forever" ” “

Caritas Prague. Residential pastoral weeks, meetings with priests, rehabilitation projects, are just some of the measures promoted by the Catholic Church of the Czech Republic in favour of the disabled. “The activities in question – explains Jaroslav Nemec, director of Caritas in Prague – have long been promoted in the various dioceses. So the European Year of the Disabled finds us to some sense prepared”. “Compared with the past – continues Nemec – the situation is much improved, especially if we look back to what it was in the Communist period. Today, the disabled receive disability allowances, and even credits to buy cars for the disabled from the State. However, various problems still remain to be cracked, such as the elimination of all architectural barriers, but in this the disabled are being helped by many non-governmental organizations and by Caritas itself”. “There does not exist – he adds – any particular collaboration between State and Church as far as aid to the disabled is concerned, but the State does contribute funds to cover the costs incurred by Caritas in its programmes for the disabled”. “In our Caritas centres we also teach the disabled to live with their handicaps. In the ‘Fatima’ project, for example, during a period of 1 or 2 years, disabled persons learn how to be self-sufficient, as far as possible. They are people aged between 20 and 40 who became disabled due to accidents of one kind or another. By the end of the project – he concludes – they have understood that they will not be disabled forever”. “Diaconia” of the Evangelical Church. Some 30 centres scattered all over the territory, providing hospitality to children, young people, whole families living in situations of hardship and deprivation, students in difficulty, the unemployed, the elderly and especially the disabled: the centres in question, says Andrea Fenclová, form the “Diaconia” of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Republic. “Diaconia – explains Fenclová, a volunteer active in the organization founded in 1989 – is a Greek word meaning ‘to serve’. So our commitment is to serve and help all those in need. Our centres are self-sufficient in management and funded by donations, sponsorships and contributions by local, national and international institutions”. The centres are busily involved on behalf of the disabled. “Ten of them – he adds – are dedicated to the disabled of various ages, each of whom is offered an individual rehabilitation programme based on close collaboration between specialists and families called to be co-responsible for the therapeutic programme. An opportunity to study the Bible is also given to all the participants”. The methods applied to the treatment of the various forms of disability include equestrian therapy, art therapy, music therapy, swimming, recreational activities and cultural excursions. In our centre at Caslav – continues Fenclová – the mentally disabled are assisted by a course of rehabilitation aimed at their reinsertion in the world of work, which in various cases tends to exclude them because they are judged in some way ‘not up to the job’. In our centre at Prelouc, a family with four children is helping to look after 9 disabled of various ages. Lastly, I should mention the ‘Bethlehem’ centre of Lobouky u Brna where the disabled, by following the spirituality of the community of L’Arche founded by Jean Vanier, are encouraged to accept Christ as the Lord of their life”.