MATHIEU

This week sees big changes in our house as we make the transition from Veritas to Mathieu.

The transition which commenced last year has come about as a result of a considered and collaborative consultation process.

Marie Helene Mathieu, our new House Patron, is a French disability rights activist who has dedicated her life to working with people with disabilities and their families. She found herself called to the vocation as a young woman, who saw the suffering of one of her peers, and studied to become a special needs teacher.

Throughout her journey in advocating for people with disabilities, she has founded and assisted with the creation of a number of movements and charities to further this cause. Her focus has been on creating communities of inclusion and diversity, in particular through the foundation of the Faith and Light movement (a community of people with disabilities, their family and friends, who meet to share friendship, pray together, and celebrate life).

Our new logo has been designed with input from staff, students and leadership and reflects Marie Helene’s values and ideals. Special thanks goes to Jess Reid and Yolandi Swart for leading the process. The key symbols of our new logo are: 

• Cross
  • Cross at the centre of the logo, Catholic identity
• Light
  • Light is radiating from the horizon, and envelopes the cross signifying the significance of the cross as being at our centre.
• Boat
  • “We are in a boat and we are travelling together. Sometimes the sea is rough, sometimes it’s calm, sometimes you need to row, and sometimes the wind blows in the sails.” These are the words of Meb, an intellectually disabled painter who painted the artwork that formed the early emblem of the Faith and Light Community, and we have, like Larche House, adopted this theme in our logo.
• Latin Words
  • Representing the core values of our House, the principles of Marie-Helene Mathieu, and a link to our past name, Veritas, to acknowledge our history as a house.
    • Fides: Faith
    • Veritas: Truth
    • Lux: Light

 Mathieu Leaders