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February 16th, 2008
I’ve been in Jakarta a little more than week now, and I’ve got an array of projects lined up to begin this coming week. So far, I’ve started working with the Jakarta International School IB Theater students, teaching them the fundamentals of clown. In a few weeks, some of these students will begin coming with me into the community to perform and teach workshops. The JIS students are eager to learn and excited to get involved. Two students in particular are going to begin participating as early as Tuesday after school and are using their participation with this project as part of their IB curriculum.
Last Thursday, I woke early and drove north to a village called, Cilinicing. After a 3-hour car ride through the center of Jakarta’s macet(traffic!), we arrived at a small fishing village on northern coast. This village has been continually flooded and swept into the ocean because of poor drainage systems and their nearness to the ocean. When we pulled up and got out of the car, we were greeted with a strong aroma of fish. One of the members of Yayasan Emmanuel, the group that brought me, explained to me that the main source of income for 
these people was fishing off the coast. There were lines of fish drying tables, surrounded by a foot or two of water because of the floods. We were escorted back to the room where I’d be performing and teaching and asked if it was sufficient. It was the living room of someone’s house. The ceiling was possibly 9ft high and the floor space was barely enough to fit a couch, coffee table and a TV. Of course, the room had been cleared for our arrival.
I had planned to use a rolling globe in my show and juggle five rings, both of which would not have been possible because of the ceiling height, so on my way back to the car to get the stuff, I quickly renegotiated what my show would consist of. On the walk back, the wind had picked up, and the waves from the oceans were splashing between the housing structures. Ducking underneath tin scrap metal rooftops and bamboo poles holding structures together, we winded through the labyrinth of homes and returned to the car. The bapak(elder male) of the village brought a few teenage boys with us to help carry stuff back. There was too much water on the ground to wear my clown shoes. So, I slipped on my clown pants over my shorts, pulled my hair into a upwards facing “fountain tail” and glued on my clown nose. As soon as I had transformed into a badut(clown), people started to have a much more friendly point of view towards me. I was no longer greeted with sarcastic “Hello Mister”, but instead greeted with one of two reactions. The first was pointing fingers and the comment, “hidung badut!”(Clown Nose) The other reaction was a hysterical pointing, screaming and laughing. After a few minutes goofing around with the adults who were scattered throughout the front of the kampung(village), we made our entrance back into the crowded structures of homes. All the kids were waiting in the room and talking with Mita, who is another member of Yayasan Emmanuel, and the coordinator of youth activities. On my way back to the children, we seemed to gather a large crowd of people who were excited to see a clown walking through the kampung or possibly they just wanted to know what this tall foreigner with a red nose was doing there.
The room of 30 kids, quickly became packed from wall to wall with kids, teenagers, and adults all trying to see what was going on. I started out by passing out clown noses to the kids. Once the kids all had noses, the parents and teenagers started asking for the noses. I told everyone that I had plenty of noses and the only thing they had to do to get one, was to wear it! And they all did! I gave the bapak a special nose that had a string on it and he started out the clown show by pretending 
that he didn’t know how to put it on. The kids excitedly encouraged him to put it on the correct way and after a few minutes of the nose being an eye patch, a hat or a chin guard, he finally got it on his nose. I performed an adjusted version of my show, speaking only in Indonesian the whole time, which was exciting for me! Everyone loved the show, laughed loudly, and cheered aggressively for my tricks, the kids I brought on stage, and of course, the bapak, who spent the whole show shadowing my clowning around.
After the show, I brought out some flower sticks to teach the kids. There was only enough room for about 10 kids to play at one time, so I talked to the kids about sharing, and explained that we had plenty of time and everyone would get a turn. The kids that had flower sticks made a circle in the middle of the room and I ran them through some of the instructions on how to use them. After everyone had a chance to try, I collected them all
and passed out spinning plates. After an hour or so of working with the kids, it was time to pack up all the stuff and leave. Soaked in sweat, with a smile glued from ear to ear, I walked out to the front of the village and said good-bye. The kids were all very excited that I’ll be returning next Thursday and so am I!
Next week, I’ll begin teaching Tuesday after school at a house for homeless boys that was built years ago, when I was a student in Jakarta called, the One More Chance house. Wednesday will be the first day of our JIS Circus Club after school, Thursday’s will be our Cilincing visits, Saturday mornings will be spent at a cancer hospital, clowning for the youth and Saturday afternoon will be the JIS/OMC house Circus integration program. Starting the week after next, I’ll be teaching a group of children from a village called Rawamungun on Mondays.
I’ve been in Jakarta a little more than week now, and I’ve got an array of projects lined up to begin this coming week. So far, I’ve started working with the Jakarta International School IB Theater students, teaching them the fundamentals of clown. In a few weeks, some of these students will begin coming with me into the community to perform and teach workshops. The JIS students are eager to learn and excited to get involved. Two students in particular are going to begin participating as early as Tuesday after school and are using their participation with this project as part of their IB curriculum.
Last Thursday, I woke early and drove north to a village called, Cilinicing. After a 3-hour car ride through the center of Jakarta’s macet(traffic!), we arrived at a small fishing village on northern coast. This village has been continually flooded and swept into the ocean because of poor drainage systems and their nearness to the ocean. When we pulled up and got out of the car, we were greeted with a strong aroma of fish. One of the members of Yayasan Emmanuel, the group that brought me, explained to me that the main source of income for 
these people was fishing off the coast. There were lines of fish drying tables, surrounded by a foot or two of water because of the floods. We were escorted back to the room where I’d be performing and teaching and asked if it was sufficient. It was the living room of someone’s house. The ceiling was possibly 9ft high and the floor space was barely enough to fit a couch, coffee table and a TV. Of course, the room had been cleared for our arrival.
I had planned to use a rolling globe in my show and juggle five rings, both of which would not have been possible because of the ceiling height, so on my way back to the car to get the stuff, I quickly renegotiated what my show would consist of. On the walk back, the wind had picked up, and the waves from the oceans were splashing between the housing structures. Ducking underneath tin scrap metal rooftops and bamboo poles holding structures together, we winded through the labyrinth of homes and returned to the car. The bapak(elder male) of the village brought a few teenage boys with us to help carry stuff back. There was too much water on the ground to wear my clown shoes. So, I slipped on my clown pants over my shorts, pulled my hair into a upwards facing “fountain tail” and glued on my clown nose. As soon as I had transformed into a badut(clown), people started to have a much more friendly point of view towards me. I was no longer greeted with sarcastic “Hello Mister”, but instead greeted with one of two reactions. The first was pointing fingers and the comment, “hidung badut!”(Clown Nose) The other reaction was a hysterical pointing, screaming and laughing. After a few minutes goofing around with the adults who were scattered throughout the front of the kampung(village), we made our entrance back into the crowded structures of homes. All the kids were waiting in the room and talking with Mita, who is another member of Yayasan Emmanuel, and the coordinator of youth activities. On my way back to the children, we seemed to gather a large crowd of people who were excited to see a clown walking through the kampung or possibly they just wanted to know what this tall foreigner with a red nose was doing there.
The room of 30 kids, quickly became packed from wall to wall with kids, teenagers, and adults all trying to see what was going on. I started out by passing out clown noses to the kids. Once the kids all had noses, the parents and teenagers started asking for the noses. I told everyone that I had plenty of noses and the only thing they had to do to get one, was to wear it! And they all did! I gave the bapak a special nose that had a string on it and he started out the clown show by pretending 
that he didn’t know how to put it on. The kids excitedly encouraged him to put it on the correct way and after a few minutes of the nose being an eye patch, a hat or a chin guard, he finally got it on his nose. I performed an adjusted version of my show, speaking only in Indonesian the whole time, which was exciting for me! Everyone loved the show, laughed loudly, and cheered aggressively for my tricks, the kids I brought on stage, and of course, the bapak, who spent the whole show shadowing my clowning around.
After the show, I brought out some flower sticks to teach the kids. There was only enough room for about 10 kids to play at one time, so I talked to the kids about sharing, and explained that we had plenty of time and everyone would get a turn. The kids that had flower sticks made a circle in the middle of the room and I ran them through some of the instructions on how to use them. After everyone had a chance to try, I collected them all
and passed out spinning plates. After an hour or so of working with the kids, it was time to pack up all the stuff and leave. Soaked in sweat, with a smile glued from ear to ear, I walked out to the front of the village and said good-bye. The kids were all very excited that I’ll be returning next Thursday and so am I!
Next week, I’ll begin teaching Tuesday after school at a house for homeless boys that was built years ago, when I was a student in Jakarta called, the One More Chance house. Wednesday will be the first day of our JIS Circus Club after school, Thursday’s will be our Cilincing visits, Saturday mornings will be spent at a cancer hospital, clowning for the youth and Saturday afternoon will be the JIS/OMC house Circus integration program. Starting the week after next, I’ll be teaching a group of children from a village called Rawamungun on Mondays.
1 comments:
Looking forward to reading more about your adventures and projects :) This is a really cool thing you're doing. Keep at it and I'm sure you'll still find time to reminisce, while wandering around JIS campus!
- Tanja
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