Mental handicap is an awkward question in our days. Many of us don't know what the good attitude is to these people. But they also have a desire for love, like others. This is the brace that connects us.
The current form of dealing with mentally retarded people is the "Faith and Light" community, which was started in France in 1971. From here it was dispersed to all over the world. In Tanscarpathia such a community was started by Edit Kral (from Budapest) in the autumn of 1994. Now the "Faith and Light" community is at work in Khust ("Crag castle"), in Thyachiv ("Apple garden") and in Uzhgorod ("Grapevine"), and communities are evolving in Mukachevo and in Rachiv. The Associate of communities meet once a month, here they sing, dance, play and talk. Every occasion enriches the handicapped, their parents and the helpers with new experience.
Recently the Caritas Znojmo (Czech Republic) offered materials for making candles to St. Martin Caritas. That was how the "Light and Joy" Candle Workshop came into existence. It started in April of 2010 in Viskovo, and regular occupation began in September. This establishment is the first in Transcarpathia where mentally retarded people can be occupied during work hours. The candle workshop provides chance to regular meeting and development. In this institute the handicapped people can feel that they are also important. They work three times a week. The community from Viskovo works every Monday, the one from Khust every Tuesday and the one from Thyachiv every Wednesday.
In the communities there are usually five people. The purpose of the workshop is to form a fellowship with the mentally handicapped. There are helpers who work with these people, they assist for them to make the candles. "Deficiency" is not an illness, but a condition that defines the whole life of the handicapped. However, with proper development they can try to live a more whole life, too.
"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak of the world to confound the things which are mighty..." (I. Cor 1:27)