After years of studying and teaching philosophy, Jean Vanier founded L'Arche, named after Noah's ark, a network of more than one hundred communities in thirty countries, inhabited by people with disabilities and their caregivers. Vanier is the son of former governor general of Canada Georges Vanier. Jean Vanier is also co-founder, with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, of Faith and Light, which brings together people with disabilities and their family and friends. There are now 1,300 Faith and Light communities in seventy-five countries.