April 6, 2008

What an incredible week! The week started out with a bang and continued at the same energy and enthusiasm all the way through. The week started out with the World Water Day celebration in Cilincing.

Yayasan Emmanuel did a fantastic job preparing and organizing this event. It was truly a special thing to be a part of. I arrived to Cilincing after the majority of the YE crew. By the time I arrived, there were booths set up all around the parking area in front of the kampung. And in the center was a covered stage, two truckloads of sand piled next to it, and an pavilion with about one hundred seats set up nicely. Many of the local people were wearing old JIS PE t-shirts signifying that they were working at the event. There were booths displaying the significance of planting trees in your village with diagrams, books and pictures. One booth displayed the recycled trash program that YE started, where one community finds trash, cleans it and then sews it together to make things like wallets, garbage cans and purses. There were booths displaying and explaining ceramic water filtration, chlorination techniques, water testing, rainwater collecting systems as well as sign in booths and food and beverage stations. Scattered around the lot were also buckets of water with faucets and bars of soap for washing hands as well as garbage cans and bags titled, “Tempat Sampah” (place for trash).

The two truckloads of sand next to the stage were for the circus. Instead of using sawdust for our ring, we decided to use sands so that when the event was over the people could use the sand to spread around the ground where they had only shells and trash.


When I got out of the van at Cilincing I was pleased to be greeted by a mob of children screaming, “’kak dan! ‘kak dan!” Everybody had questions about the show and wanted to know when we were going to start and if they could practice before the show and if I’d brought the clown noses like I promised. It was great to see them all so excited about performing. Some of the kids helped me haul all the gear into the musholla and then we all went outside to enjoy the event. YE had prepared groups to sing, dance, read poetry, perform a skit about the water cycle and of course the CIRCUS!


As I watched the kids perform their acts before the circus, I was disappointed because they weren’t smiling while they were dancing and singing and as soon as the finished their performances they all ran as fast as the could off stage and into the musholla. After the first group had finished, I walked over to where all the kids were sitting and asked them, “When you finish a trick in the circus, what do you do?” They all replied, “Tada!!!” I then explained that performing a dance or song was no different then juggling on stage. After you finish anything on stage, you have to take your bow (or in our case, Tada!). They all realized the similarities and then said that next time on stage, they’d be sure to tada. And sure enough they finished their act and shouted tada, as they were running off stage. This time I went back to the kid’s waiting space and told them that their tada was fantastic. “Next time, make sure you wait on stage long enough for the audience to applaud your amazing skills!” They all giggled and laughed and said they’d be sure to the next time they went out on stage, which was the circus acts.


At this point in the after noon, its at least 95°F outside and I am, once again, covered in sweat. Literally five minutes before the circus started, a torrential rain decided to come through. Everybody rain for cover on the stage, under the pavilion and booths and in the musholla. Luckily it only rained for about 15 minutes before the blaring sun returned and only a few out of the two hundred plus people didn’t stick around. While it was raining, I gave all the kids their red Clowns Without Borders T-Shirts and their clown pants that YE had made for them as well as their red clown noses. They were all so excited and looked absolutely wonderful!


Once the rain stopped, we began our show! I started out balancing a few things on my chin to help gather any stragglers. The kids were so excited to hear the awe and applause that came when they performed their skills. After each trick their styles and smiles got bigger and brighter.


By the end of the skills portion of their show, they were jumping so high in the air to tada and sing such enthusiasm through their voices that some of the audience members even started to tada as they applauded! When the kids performed their two clowns acts, they shined so bright it made me tear up watching! The audience laughed hard and constant through out both clown acts, and of course when they finished, the kids filled the space with their joyous, “Tada!”




After the circus was over, I brought all the kids into the musholla to praise them and tell them how proud I was of them. The buzz was so strong that I couldn’t get them to stop jumping up and down and screaming about their favorite part of the show. After a while of sitting back and enjoying their excitement, they calmed down and I told them that they could keep the clown pants and t-shirts, which sent them into another frenzy of excitement. All the kids thanked me and then helped me bring things back to the car.
Absolutely exhausted, thirsty and hotter than I think I’ve ever been. I snuck into a toko (street shop) to buy a big bottle of water and sit in front of the shade. The people running the toko were very excited that I was there and brought a fan and set it right in front of me. They told me how much they loved the show and the work I was doing with their children. After a nice five-minute rest, I reemerged into the event and helped YE with little things that needed to be done.



I left the World Water Day event at Cilincing feeling great about the work that these kids had done, the things they’d learned and the joy that they’d showed through their performance. I hope that this is a day and event that they will remember for a long time from now.





Monday was my class with Rawamangun. Class was great as usual. The kids were excited to be there and they love learning all the cool circus tricks that I teach them. This was the last day for their circus classes this spring, so I tried to make sure that the kids had a chance to play with any of the equipment that they desired to play with. About half way through class, there was a request to “main badut” (play clown). So, of course we played clown! After class was over, Ibu Madrik (the JIS connection to the Rawamangun village) asked if I’d like to come visit the children’s kampung next week. I said, “absolutely! And I’ll bring the high school students that have been helping teach the kids!” She was very excited and said we could eat at her house, which was just outside the kampung and that there was a field I could perform my show on where all the brothers and sisters of the kids that had been coming to class could come and watch.

JIS circus club was filled with the usual suspects. And, these kids never cease to impress me with their dedication to and success with circus! At the end of class, I asked the kids if they’d like to perform at the JIS spring fair with the OMC kids and they were all very interested. I told them I’d try to make the connections with the fair organizers and we’d go from there. I was able to connect the dots quickly thanks to Ms. Andrews at JIS, so the plans were made before the end of the week.


Thursday was my last class in Cilincing. When I arrived, things were back to normal. The booths had all been taken down and the sand had been taken to places where they needed sand. Our normal meeting places were both being occupied, so we went to one of the children’s houses that had a long hallway type living room. I was surprised when I opened the back door, to see the ocean waves splashing up to the house.



I taught the kids a lot of partner tricks today and tricks that they’d not learned yet. We also worked on performing individually in front of the group. Some of the kids wandered out onto the rocks outside to show their older siblings some of the new tricks that they’d learned. I called everyone back into the living room and we sat down in a circle. I told the kids about this wild idea I had, to bring them to another kampung across town with me next week. They could perform their show and then help me teach, but only if they wanted to. They didn’t all answer immediately, but after a little contemplation, every one decided that it was something they’d really like to do. I told them to all make sure that their clown pants and red shirts were clean and ready to wear. Many of the girls said they had already washed them and they were going to iron them tonight. There were a few kids that didn’t get shirts and pants because they weren’t at the show and I told them that I’d be sure to bring extra for everybody. I talked to JIS the next day and asked if it was possible for JIS to loan me a school bus to pick up the Cilincing kids, bring them to Tanjung Priok (a different village) and then bring the kids back to Cilincing when the show/ workshop was over. Without even thinking twice, Julie Rusnak, the activities director pulled out a bus request form, filled it out and signed it. I’m very lucky to have such great supporters like JIS on my side!

Next week is going to be great. I’m booked to perform everyday in several different kampungs, orphanages, tutoring centers, an elementary school and a hospital!