August 2007

by Lillie Huggins

Clown trips are always a learning experience, because we experiment with how and why and where we clown. There are some factors that remain the same, of course. We always have a goal of loving and of service, but working with an organization that also has an interest in education--of ourselves and spreading the knowledge we gain--means that we are continually looking for new people, and places, and methods of implementing ideas of love, and compassion, and justice.

This year's second, hopefully annual, Ecuador trip, May 31-June 9, was an incredible group of new and old clowns from all over the United States, Canada, Peru, Israel, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, and, of course, our excellent hosts from Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador.

On this trip Gesundheit worked with clown groups Cecilia Riviera Foundation (Quito) and Narices Rojas (Guayaquil). We revisited many of the places we went to the first year, and Patch did press conferences and workshops in Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca. Although the media generally like to neglect the serious and troubling issues of social justice, globalization, poverty, and healthcare that Patch tackles aggressively, there were some beautiful moments of understanding during his workshops and in a meeting with Lenin Moreno Garcés, the Vice President of Ecuador, where people were volunteering their services and support for Gesundheit's emphasis on justice, humor and service as crucial to the health of people everywhere, and for the development of a service/learning project for women recently released from prison.

There is usually a good deal of confusion when explaining the purpose of a visit to a prison and why we would want to help "criminals." Perhaps, with all our experiences in clowning worlwide in poverty stricken communities,we have some understanding of what the conditions of poverty are. Despair is something most of us are unfamiliar with in our everyday lives. Stealing to feed your family or murdering the man who rapes your daughters are not things we condone, but a certain level of empathy is called for, especially when there are few, if any, services provided for the women and children in these kinds of situations. It is obvious within minutes that these women are not "criminals" in our stereotypical viewing of them, especially when we heard their stories about the cruelty of their living situations, their limited options for providing for themselves and their families, and how easy it is to turn to the ways that they have learned for gaining funds—mostly drugs and prostitution.

In the Carcel de Mujeres, many of the international inmates are in for drug trafficking, having been convinced by their significant others to participate in such activities and are planning their own organizations to inform other women of the consequences of getting involved in the trade. The Vice President and a couple people in the workshops expressed an interest in starting a place for these women and perhaps their children to go to learn skills and have a time of reintegration before going back to their communities after their time in jail is finished. This kind of program is something we have also thought about for another women"s prison in Peru. It would mean that these women would have a marketable skill, knowledge, and self-confidence to not engage in the kinds of activities and relationships that would land them in dangerous situations again, and we are hopefully they would pass on what they learned to their children, younger generations, and/or their peers.

In the clown community there is a lot to learn. Spending time in a group of people that are from all kinds of backgrounds with a loving, caring intention and interacting with people in hospitals, nursing homes, special education facilities, prisons, etc, etc, there are an array of experiences that can be had. There is opportunity for participants in clowning to find tremendous strengths they were not aware they had just by putting themselves in a position that everyday life does not ask of them. By offering yourself as a loving person, open to what you can offer and receive from a situation has unbelievable potential. The talents and skills once thought unavailable, for one reason or another, show themselves for people of all ages, and it is a phenomenal event to find you have a certain ability as a clown that you can translate into whatever it is you do in "normal" life. And it only gets better! So whatever the calling you feel, encouragement to approach it with a different perspective is helpful, but being able to experience, endure, and learn from what you have experienced is the real gold hidden inside a clown trip.