Clowning in Cambodia and Thailand!

Continuing to clown around...

2010-09-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

I refer you to my other blog for subsequent projects! In 2010: Indonesia, Myanmar and Haiti.

Go to: Loka Humana Social Outreach Clowning

xxx

PHOTOS !!!

2009-10-16T11:51:00.001-07:00

To see more photos from Thailand and Cambodia -- the country, the people, and clowning with the kids -- go to:

Clowning in Cambodia and Thailand!

Photo presentation and benefit event!

2009-07-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Fantastic photos! Inspiring stories! Exciting entertainment!

On Thursday, August 27th from 7-10 pm, there will be a Photo Presentation of my work in Thailand and Cambodia. Come be amazed and inspired! Video too! The photos you see here on this blog are only some of the extraordinary images from my encounters with the children in Cambodia and Thailand.

And it's a party to benefit upcoming projects. Groove to Cambodian pop music! Enjoy fun(ny) entertainment. Eat, drink, mingle and be merry.

When: Thursday, August 27, 2009
7-10 pm
Where: Center for Remembering & Sharing
123 Fourth Avenue (at 13th St.), New York City
Nearest trains -- 4/5/6 or N/R/Q/W or the L to Union Square
Tickets: $10-$30 sliding scale donation at the door

In association with Clowns Without Borders. Photos will also be shown from CWB's recent expedition to Haiti!

Hope you can come!

All good things must come to an end...

2008-12-31T19:09:00.001-08:00

...But I hope the joy and laughter lives on in the children's memories for a long time to come.

I'm at the end of my journey. How did I get here so fast?! Isn't that how it always goes. December 27 I take the bus from Sihanoukville to Koh Kong border to continue on to Bangkok, where a flight awaits me to take me home. Three months is a long time (two in Cambodia), and yet it was just enough to start to sink your teeth in... I would love to return to work with the children again, especially where I only visited a day or two, for a sense of continuity and deeper exchange. I also discovered additional places (such as 'Homeland' taking in orphaned and abandoned children off the street) where the children had never had any creative visit or outlet and very much were in need of opportunities for joy and laughter. Alas, a visit there was not possible this time around. So I have to come back! We'll see what the future holds.

In meantime, this particular venture is complete. It has been a fantastic journey. Although, I must say, it is difficult to qualify the experience in words. But I have tried to give you a good description below of what I was up to these three months, and I hope you enjoyed looking it over! The children and adolescents with whom I clowned and the directors of the places where I went all expressed how excited and grateful they were to have me visit, and I would like to extend their sentiment through me to all of you who helped make this venture possible. Thank you all for your great support and contribution!!! Aw-koun jee-ran!

Koh Kong border... goodbye Cambodia!

In the shade of the umbrella tree

2008-12-31T19:08:00.002-08:00

December 22 - 27

My last stop on my clown journey through Cambodia is Sihanoukville on the south-west coast. This is fast becoming a popular beach resort with foreigners, but I am not here to lie on the beach and frolic in the water. I'm here to work with the kids of M'lop Tapang.

M'lop Tapang
is an organization helping street children with shelter, education and a future. There are tons of street children in Sihanoukville; you see them roaming the beach selling trinkets to tourists, begging for money or picking garbage. MT addresses itself to three kinds of street children: street-living children - who have been abandoned by their families, or have run away from home and are living alone on the streets; children from street-living families, i.e. children who live on the streets with their families; and street-working children, children who spend most of their time on the streets fending for themselves, but do return home on a regular basis. Many children are sent out by their parents to work all day or night to help the family survive. MT works with these families to counsel and convince them that the children are better off in school and to find ways for the parents to earn a better living.

M'lop Tapang operates a main day center where education and recreational activities are offered together with regular meals, medical care and counseling. There is also an outreach team with small centers in the midst of the slums where those children who can't come to the main center still have close access to schooling and recreation for a few hours a day. MT provides vocational training for the adolescents and also houses many girls and boys who are not able to stay with their families or have none to return to.

Tapang is a certain kind of tree also called 'umbrella tree' because of the extended branches. M'lop means shade or protection in Khmer. Everything got started with a bunch of street kids who were living under an umbrella tree on the beach and has since expanded to a large organization helping over a thousand children.

Clowning around
I play with the children aged around 4-12 at the annex center, which is being built to accommodate more creative arts activities. In the morning I have one group of around 30 and another one in the afternoon. The kids are really engaged and very creative, the boys a little more so than the girls who are more shy... I can tell which kids have already had a chance to express themselves, in creative play that has been offered before -- who are "warmed up" so to speak and jump into the games more readily -- and who are new to this and new to the center, and therefore more on guard.

We do workshops with creative movement and clown play, goofing around with our bodies and faces, making funny dances, and playing with exaggerating reactions like surprise! discovery! wow! how great! excitement and joy! ha ha ha! whoopee! woohoo! yey! or anger, arrrr! or upset, boohoo!, back and forth. Playing with rhythm and range. Warming up body, face and spirit! Together in a circle or in small groups. We work on being connected, having eye contact and responding off each other. The kids work together to each add interesting movements into a choreography. I am impressed with the kids' creative engagement -- I have them do an entrance and greet the 'audience' as three clown characters, with a funny walk, and do a little dance and then exit. And they're hamming it up! Funny stuff. We practice some juggling and stiltwalking too.

Xmas Thanks
Christmas Day, the center organizes a party (Cambodians are Buddhist but clever as they are have found a way to capitalize on Christmas -- it's a great excuse to party! And for Cambodian enterprises, it's another great way to make money, selling Xmas decorations. I fully expected to not celebrate Xmas this year, being in Buddhist country, but there's glittery trees and Santas all around me!) At the party I do a little show for all the kids and dance around the Xmas tree (a tropical leaf tree decorated with balloons) on my stilts.

Before show time, the director of the center talks with all the youngsters gathered to encourage them to keep going to school and build a productive future for themselves. Then it's the kids turn to speak. They talk about what they have gained since they have had the opportunity to come to the center and how grateful they are. One girl starts to cry. I ask, "What's wrong?! Why is she crying?" It turns out she's crying because she is so happy that she has been saved from the life she had and is now at M'lop Tapang. Another girl, around age 6, stands up on in front of everyone and speaks in the microphone: she told us how when she arrived a year ago, she was so shy (traumatized) she was unable to speak -- and now here she is yacking it up in front of a crowd!

The Slums of Sihanoukville

I also visited the children living in the slums and we had great fun as well.
See for yourself!

Entering MT's center in the slums

The school house in the slums, and inside the classroom

Passing out clown noses

The path way to one of the centers, passing thru a slum area near the market

Wat Opot Children's Community

2008-12-31T19:08:00.001-08:00

December 20-21

I skipped town for the weekend to go visit the children at Wat Opot, about an hour or so south of Phnom Penh in the countryside of Chambak, towards Takeo.

A small local bus takes me down there; it was packed and because I hadn't bought a ticket in advance, I end up having to stand for the close to one and a half-hour journey. No problem, though. Then I get dropped on the dusty roadside by the Chambak market, except there seems to be nothing around but a small fruitstand. I am somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Usually a foreigner gets bombarded by moto drivers offering a ride as soon as you step out on the street or out of a bus, whether you need it or not, but here, of course, when I really did need transportation help, there is not a moto in sight! Then one appears but when I say "moto dop?" (the usual nomer for a moto taxi driver) he looks at me as if I'm an alien speaking an alien tongue. But I'm not! That's what you say in Cambodian when you want a ride from a motorcycle.

[This occurs a few times throughout my journey -- I say something in Khmer (i.e., Cambodian) and the person stares back at me as if I'm from outer space. I'm told, generally, they are so used to foreigners speaking English that they are assuming English is coming out of my mouth, but they're not understanding... because I'm not speaking English, I'm speaking your language! Other times, though, I start to say something in Khmer, and they go: "Oh, you speak Khmer! Bla bla bla bla, and they rabble off..." Eh, no, not quite. Just a few helpful phrases, such as 'Joum riep sue, suk sabai?' (hello, how are you?) or 'kniom awt niem sait' (I don't eat meat!). I'm trying to learn the language. It's fun. But I digress...]

Eventually I do get a moto dop, and clamber on with my big bag of clown stuff and stilts, and off we go down the main road for about 15 minutes and then onto a small dusty way past traditional houses, rice fields and cow pastures to Wat Opot, the temple. Wat means pagoda, or temple, in Khmer.

Bus to Chambak (Takeo Province) / and, gateway to the road to Wat Opot ...
---

I am going to the Wat Opot Children's Community (also known as the Wat Opot Project), which is an organization offering a home to children living with HIV/AIDS or who have parents with AIDS who can no longer care for them. Many are orphaned. Here they receive loving care, shelter, education and the chance to be part of a community. There is much misunderstanding of HIV and AIDS in Cambodia, which here is still a relatively new phenomenon and fast becoming an epidemic, and most people are deathly afraid of catching the disease. Thus, people, including children, who are infected are often ostracized from the community. But at Wat Opot they get to live life freely as part of the community, and there is a lot of outreach to integrate the general surrounding population. At Wat Opot, everyone lives and plays together and the only way you can tell which children actually have HIV or AIDS is at 7 am and 7 pm when these children line up for their daily anti-viral medication (donated by Doctors Without Borders).

These children have suffered much hardship and sorrow -- seeing their loved ones wither away with disease, losing their mother and father, a sister or brother, or themselves on the brink of dying until they came to Wat Opot for proper care. Thus, a main goal at Wat Opot is to bring back for these children the joy of living and a hope for the future. Many of these children have been despondent thinking there is no life ahead for them, they will die sooner or later. But with medication they do not have to die, so go to school and build a life and a future for yourself! It takes time to convince some of them. Even if all is possible, they are nonetheless surrounded by death. As a different example, one boy, recently arrived, was pampered and spoiled by his grandmother who let him do or have anything he wanted because he was going to die anyway. Now at Wat Opot Community, the boy is on the brink of becoming a troublemaker, seeing no point of going to school and causing mischief. He is slowly learning to adjust to the possibilities around him. To take his life seriously for what it's worth and what is possible.

The children are extremely affectionate, even with a stranger. Even the older ones, those teetering towards trouble. One boy puts his arm around me as we walk to the temple for evening prayer, he's holding on with great affection. At night when there's a dance party after my performance I see him at moments letting himself go, expressing himself joyfully on the dance floor, then suddenly withdrawing, the smile and gleam gone. It's like two forces are pulling at him, he's not quite sure yet which way to go, what to trust. He is one of the boys not wanting to go to school. I hope the joy wins out.

As I arrive, one little boy, around three years old, immediately runs up to me and clings to my leg. Wow, I just got here and I'm a complete stranger. Throughout the day, he is constantly there, crawling up in your lap, hugging you, taking your hand. I'm told he is extremely needy, seeking love and affection from everywhere else but his mother who is very sick and has rejected him, trying to ween him off her, convinced that she is soon going to die.

Wat Opot is a place of great joy, love and care, yet with the nearness of death a daily reminder.

Some of these children may be infected with HIV, but it is their energy which is infectious! Their smiles, the gleam in their eye, the affection they lavish. Their excitement at playing and clowning around! They love the red sponge noses I brought with me. And the stilts, always such a hit. We do workshops in the afternoon, playing clown games, making funny movements and playing silly characters. Even the older youngsters, 15-20, who seemed way too "cool," get into getting goofy. Not used to a whole lot of structure, our play gets a little chaotic at times, and I discover that the kids' attention span is very short (even though they are not raised on MTV!), when I try to enter into more structured, disciplined exercises to actually teach them certain skills or create specific choreography. But no matter, as long as the kids are having fun! (It's a good challenge for me, though -- how to adjust my game to cater to each situation, each group of kids. Each place is different, what approach is best for these kids, how do I switch things up on the fly to keep them engaged? If this doesn't work, what can I do instead? I am learning as I go!) For anything more, I would have to come back and stay a longer time, which I just might! It would be great for them to develop their focus and concentration skills, to build their sense of accomplishment through theatrical exercises and for them to have a chance to express and work through their experiences by creating their own plays and performances. The children would definitely benefit from drama therapy. Although there is an art class offered on weekends to some students, the kids have not had much opportunity for creative expression through drama.

It was but a brief visit. I hope I left the children with a powerful experience that will stay with them into the future!

Srey Mal goofing off again!

The main building, including dormitory and medical office / The fish pond which helps sustain the community. There's 10,000 of them in there!

Time to say good bye! Off I go! Thanks, kids, for playing with me! And thanks Wayne and Bonnie for the wonderful opportunity of visiting Wat Opot!

Your Cambodian Street Children

2008-12-31T19:07:00.001-08:00

December 18-21

I also worked a few days at a wonderful little place in north Phnom Penh -- a newly started center helping street children, which calls itself Your Cambodian Street Children Organization (YCSCO). Aptly named, since as members of the world community these children are indeed your children!

The center is situated in a poor neighborhood on a small side street in northwest Phnom Penh.

The kids range from about age 5 to 14. We were about 40 on the roof top that is their class room, clowning and goofing around together. The kids had such great energy and engagement, fully participating all together with such enthusiasm! Sometimes it got a bit chaotic but they were over-run with excitement.

I went away for a couple of days to clown elsewhere, and when I came back the kids were out on the street and upon seeing me gathered all around me calling my name. Suddenly an impromptu clown workshop formed on the street as the kids on their own initiative formed a circle with me and started playing the games I had taught them before. These are the moments that make you feel the venture you set out on is worthwhile.

YCSCO is a new organization and these children have only recently had the opportunity to come here to get shelter, care and education. So they are still very much in need and hungry for stimulation. These are kids who live either by themselves or with their families on the street; they have no homes. Other children who benefit from YCSCO’s services are poor kids from the neighboring community. No one is turned away who wants to come and learn and play.

Learning English is seen as a gateway to a successful future, offering better options for gainful employment – and so YCSCO offers English lessons every afternoon after regular school. At this time, the space for the children is an open roof-top, and the organization is hoping to be able to build a roof over this space so that a place can be created where the children can learn at all times even during bad weather, and so that those children who are homeless (and parentless) can have shelter for the night. If you would like to support their fundraising effort to make this happen, please go to http://www.yscso.blogspot.com or email info@ycsco.org.

Sorn Lorn is the founder and director of YCSCO. He is a man in his 30’s with great enthusiasm, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to helping these children. In a world so full of corruption (especially in Cambodia) and self-serving people following the ‘each man to himself’ principle, driven to make the most money they can (for themselves), Lorn’s self-less engagement in these children’s future is exciting and heartening.

Above, Sorn Lorn with Leakana in front of his YCSCO center.

And, right, Leakana all done up and ready for school!

City Orphanage

2008-12-31T19:06:00.003-08:00

Wednesday, December 17, 20008

Today I went to the city orphanage of Phnom Penh (way on the outskirts of the city) and played with the HIV children and the disabled children (cerebral palsy, etc.). It was great! I was very impressed with the facilities, all new, clean, spacious, kids well taken care of. Good to see among so much usual squalor, in a developing country where one would expect less. Even in the United States (or perhaps especially in the U.S.), state-run care facilities that I have witnessed are usually dismal buildings with minimal care by an apathetic, under-paid staff. So it was so wonderful to see that here there was a positive space for these poor children. The only disadvantage, I felt, was that the kids with HIV, who were otherwise fully functioning, physically and mentally, were mixed in with the disabled, and did not have much opportunity for creative stimulation at their level.

So I think my visit really offered these kids a chance to go for it and have fun and play -- freely and fully. They were so engaged and gung-ho! I was surprised. Usually when I propose a game and ask ‘who wants to try, who wants to go?’, nobody raises their hand, most everyone shy and hesitant to be the first. Here lots of hands shot up in the air and the kids were ready with such great creative ideas for fun (and funny) movement and sounds!

Cambodia - observations, experiences

2008-12-31T19:06:00.001-08:00

Everyone has a moto (a Vespa-like motorcycle). This is the general mode of transportation in Cambodia. In fact, there aren’t really any taxis or buses except for long-distance travel, you simply hop on the back of a moto to go wherever you’re going. That or a tuk-tuk. And there's no limit to how many or how much you can pile on. "No problem," goes the motto of the moto drivers. I saw a moto with six people on it, including a baby dangling from her mother's arms. I also saw a moto with four big television sets piled on the back (with no protective packaging, mind you). And then of course you have me and my huge luggage -- see photo to the right (my 4' stilts are sticking out on the other side). And off we go into the crazy traffic of Phnom Penh! No problem!

As I may have mentioned, I find the Cambodian people to be extremely friendly. Especially children are very open and curious. Little kids passing you on the road will most certainly shout out "Hello! Hello!," invariably followed by giggling. Even way out in the field, if they see me, they will holler "Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!" It's funny. Cute. They do it with such excitement. I bike by on a little path past a house, and the family goes "Oh, look, a barang (i.e. foreigner)!... Wave to her!... Hello, hello!" Even adults when driving by on their moto, turn and shout out a friendly "Hello!" Men may stare at me, but not in an uncomfortable way. It's fairly easy to make friendly contact and conversation. Of course for conversation it helps if they speak English (as my Khmer is limited). Which a lot of them do. The younger people. And the older men and women often speak French, a remnant from colonial times. Since I speak French that works for me. Then, on the other hand, there are the times of complete communication breakdown, when I say something as simple as "bai" (rice) which I cannot possibly be mispronouncing and the woman selling rice patties looks at me like I'm an alien. Since I very much want to learn Khmer and pride myself in my easy ability to pick up languages, that frustrates me! Bai? What don't you understand?! Argh.

There are a lot of children begging for food and money in the cities (Battambang, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh) and it is hard to know how best to deal with it. One little girl no more than 4 or 5, extremely dirty and barefoot, came up to me as I was sitting at a street-food vendors cafe table eating. She wanted money. I bought her some food, which they wrapped up for her to take away. She did not look happy, however, at being given food. I wondered what she was going to do with it. Was she sent out to beg by a Fagin-type leader, who would collect everything they get? If with her parents, would they take the food? Would she get to eat it? However, later when I walked down the street, I saw her sitting on the sidewalk eating. Good, I was glad. Often children are sent out by their parents to beg, or by a gang leader. You don't want to encourage this practice so it's not the best thing to give them money. And yet you want to help. It's hard to know when they really just want help to get something to eat, and when they are foils for someone else's scheme. And there are so many you can't give to everyone, you really can't. Some people make it a principle to never give at all. (And instead, help by supporting aid organizations.) Besides children, lots of mothers with babies on their arms, and old women.

Here's an interesting little tidbit: Cambodian women like to wear pajamas as street clothes. I mean, a lot. It's curious to me. If only for the fact that the weather is so warm and they're walking around in flannel pajamas, aren't they hot?! I find it funny. Grown women walking around in Hello Kitty pajamas or little bunny prints or ducks. If a person was walking down the street in pajamas in the U.S., someone would be calling the men in white coats. Maybe not in New York City, where anything goes, but otherwise. Apparently, as I was told, it started out as a trend for rich Cambodian women to demonstrate that they did not have to work, so they could go around all day in lounge wear. Then it became fashion somehow and women working wear them and so does everyone else.
Shopping at the market - in pajamas

[Further observations to follow]

Afesip - Phnom Penh & Kampong Cham

2008-12-31T19:05:00.003-08:00

December 12-16

Next I continued on to the two other Afesip centers -- Tamdy center outside Phnom Penh, and the center for the younger girls (under 18, as young as 4) way out in the countryside towards Kampong Cham (northeast of Phnom Penh). We drove for two hours to get there, the last part bumping along dusty dirt-roads, past traditional houses, with cattle roaming, children playing and school kids biking home. When I arrived in Cambodia it was the end of the rainy season and there was mud everywhere. In just a few weeks everything's turned to dust.

Here are some more photos!

On the way to the center near Kampong Cham

"AFESIP-Kampong Cham Rehabilitation and Vocational Training of Basic Skills Center"
And above right, the upstairs hall where the girls sleep (on mats that they pull out at night).

All new plates and pots and pans, yey! / And then some clowning in the sewing center-cum-theater!....

Latiya (Liya) got a kick out of dressing up in my clown costume, and so did Sareka and Kakada. Those clown converses were a big hit!

Standing tall! While Opeyka poses.

Tamdy center outside Phnom Penh:

Srey Leak and Ratchana get creative and clown away!

The girls at Afesip

2008-12-31T19:05:00.001-08:00

December 9 - December 11

I am now in Siem Reap to clown at Afesip, at their center for young girls and women rescued from trafficking (sexual slavery) and domestic abuse, a mission started by Somaly Mom.* When I was in Sweden in the summer I read an article about Somaly Mom in a Swedish newspaper, because she had won a Scandinavian human rights prize. And I thought, I am going to Cambodia… and this is exactly the kind of place I want to go to. So I got in touch -- and now here I am! They invited me to perform at the International Anti-Trafficking Day, (officially Dec 12), which was initiated by Afesip and which they celebrated on Dec. 9. I came up with some classic schtick scenarios and just improvised in the moment around it and found myself clowning around with the governor of Siem Reap! (He and Somaly Mom and a whole panel were seated on stage as guests of honor.) It went really well! They were all laughing heaps. The girls sure got a kick out my goofing around with the governor.

I was amazed how loving and sweet these girls are given their recent traumatic past -- so ready to love and laugh! I came back in the evening to join their dance party, and as soon as the girls saw me they rushed towards me screaming with delight surrounding me with hugs! Wow. Such outpouring of love and affection. They had done the same to Somaly Mom (running up and gathering around her so excited and happy) when she arrived, but after all she is the big momma who saved them. They had just met me and I only made them laugh a little… That was a powerful moment to be greeted thus. Their excitement, being so full of life and joy, was wonderful to see. I imagine they are so hungry to live and to love, now that they have the chance; they are making up for lost time!

The next day I came back to do workshops with the girls and we had a lot of fun playing games and acting silly – and they especially loved trying to walk on the stilts!

I got to know one girl more closely, Ren (pronounced "rain"), who spoke English. Somaly introduced us so that Ren could practice her speaking and to show me around the place. Ren is looking forward to finishing her seamstress training so she can open up her own business. She, especially, loved walking on stilts, and managed to do it by herself quite quickly! We took a lot of photos and I promised to send her copies. Over a couple of days we made a nice connection and were just starting to get to know each other. I wish I could have stayed longer. But this time my clown visits were scheduled as shorter stays. The girls have a very busy schedule with school and training to move forward with their life and opportunities. They have a lot of lost time to catch up on! I am glad I was able to come and play with them a little and offer them some joy and fun through the silliness of clowning!

--
* Further information on Afesip and trafficking in Cambodia
Human trafficking, especially the sexual enslavement of young girls, is a serious and rampant problem in Cambodia. Somaly Mom was herself sold off in her early teens and forced to work in a brothel. She did not get away until she was in her early twenties and has since worked tirelessly to fight trafficking and rescue young girls and women from a life as a sex slave. Her organization Afesip runs three centers, one in Siem Reap, one just outside Phnom Penh and a third in the countryside near Kampong Cham. There the girls are offered a safe home, the camaraderie of each other, psychological counseling, education and vocational training. They are given the opportunity to pursue a viable career track doing either hairdressing or sewing. At the end of their training, assistance is given to set them up in their own businesses. Since many of the girls have lost years of schooling, they have many grades to catch up on and they stay at the center for many years until they have completed their education and are fully trained in a vocation.
For more information, go to http://www.somalymom.org and http://www.afesip.org.
--

The Siem Reap center / Waiting for the show to start....
International Anti-Trafficking Day, December 9, 2008

Somaly Mom / Governor of Siam Reap w/Somaly Mom seated at front of stage

Grooving with the girls

Ren and Liya in the sewing room / Ren on stilts!

All gathered together!

Cambodia the country

2008-12-31T19:04:00.001-08:00

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a small country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Thailand to the west and north, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east and south. The capital is Phnom Penh with other major cities being Siem Reap (with the Angkor Wat temples where all the tourists go), Sihanoukville (fast becoming a popular beach resort) and Battambang (not much to write home about -- except for being the home of Phare Ponleu Selpak where I worked!).

I entered Cambodia via the border town Poipet and proceeded to Battambang. Thereafter my trajectory -- which I have traced on the map to the right -- is Siem Reap, then Phnom Penh, with excursion to Kampong Cham, and lastly Sihanoukville.

Cambodia
today has around 13 million inhabitants. For some time, the country was known as Kampuchea, which is still what it is called by the Cambodians themselves (Preah Reachenachakr Kampuchea). Of course, to me and perhaps to others, the name Kampuchea conjures up the Khmer Rouge, the brutal regime of the late 1970’s. The people in Cambodia are quite homogenous in the sense that they all speak one language, Khmer (pronounced “Kmai”). Yet there are minority groups such as the Muslim Cham and several small hill tribes in the northwest of the country, as well as many people with Chinese and Vietnamese background. I noticed how different the Cambodians can look from one another – some ‘look’ almost Indian or Sri-Lankan whereas others appear Chinese. But they are all considered ‘Khmer’ whether ethnically so or not.

A little history...
The mighty Khmer empire once stretched across what is now Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The temples at Angkor Wat are a testament to a glorious past, by many considered the eighth wonder of the world. The vastness of the monuments and the intricacy of their design are simply stunning. Contrast that with the poverty of the country today and the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

KHMER ROUGE
Some of you may know of the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia from 1975 – 1979, essentially converting the entire country into one enormous concentration camp and killing up to 2.5 million people (at the time 2/3 of the population) through execution, mass starvation and generally unbearable living conditions

Lonely Planet writes: “Upon taking Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge implemented one of the most radical and brutal restructurings of a society ever attempted; its goal … to transform Cambodia into a peasant-dominated agrarian cooperative. Within days of coming to power the entire population of Phnom Penh and provincial towns, including the sick, elderly and infirm, was forced to march into the countryside and work as slaves for 12-15 hours a day. Disobedience of any sort often brought immediate execution. The advent of Khmer Rouge rule was proclaimed Year Zero. Currency was abolished and postal services halted. The country cut itself off from the outside world.” They renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea. They discarded anything considered Western, including Western medicine.

Yet not all had it equally bad. This is what makes the situation complicated – in terms of justice being pursued in today’s Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone who was not ethnically pure Khmer, e.g. anyone of Chinese or Vietnamese descent, as well as anyone who was educated or with trained skills (doctors, lawyers, teachers). They specifically pursued people from the city, with country folk considered “old people” or “base people” and folk from the city (driven out from the cities into the countryside) “new people.” Basically, they turned the poorer country people against the better-off, city people. Manipulating resentments, they were able to easily create their henchmen, the Khmer Rouge Cadres, among the country people, similar to the Kapos in WWII concentration camps. The “new people” were kept separate from the “base people” and treated more harshly: starved, raped, murdered and worked (literally) to death. Many “base people,” however, were not as greatly affected and as a result there is some discrepancy in the experience and memory of that time period among the Cambodian population. Further complicating things is the fact that former Khmer Rouge soldiers and leaders have disappeared into the general population. In fact, the current government includes some former Khmer Rouge cadres, including the prime minister!

Cambodians and their country today
Because of the extent of cruelty inflicted by the Cambodians upon its own people, and having heard of the level of human trafficking and corruption plaguing the country, somehow one may have expected Cambodians to be cold, mean and heartless as a people, if nothing else as an after effect of their recent history. But rather I discover that Cambodians are open, warm and extremely friendly. I find them curious and welcoming to foreigners. They stare at you, as a foreigner, but not in any antagonistic way, rather with great curiosity and interest. The children gleefully shout out "Hello! Hello!" and wave enthusiastically as you pass. Even the adults do. Constantly. It's funny.

The country is incredibly poor. People earn on average $30 per month. Corruption is rampant. Underpaid public servants demand pay-outs in return for services. If you want anything done in Cambodia, you gotta pay up. This includes teachers asking their students for money and paying the police to receive assistance. Even with such poverty abounding in Cambodia, there are well-to-do Khmers and the gap between the rich and poor is only widening, some say with disdain. This is particularly disconcerting in my view, considering that the whole Khmer Rouge atrocity based itself on the divide between the rich and the poor, the city folk versus the country folk. It's as if it never happened. Even more disconcerting is the fact that what happened during the Khmer Rouge is not talked about among the people nor in any way taught in school.

The difference in wealth makes for a startling contrast. I saw Landcruisers next to carts with 15 people piled up on it or passing an ox cart eking its way forward or all the cows wandering about everywhere. One might see a newly constructed fancy mansion of a house and right next to it a small hut made out of straw that is barely holding up. The new and modern mixed in with the old and traditional. That is something particular I noticed with Cambodia. People live quite primitively in houses that are more or less shacks with minimum comfort (according to my view: hole-in-the-floor toilet, only cold water, sleeping on a mat on the floor) and yet you’ll have a youngster emerge dressed in style, hair waxed and coiffed and listening to their mp3. Television sets flicker through the glass-less window of a straw hut. Commercials advertise the latest teeth-whitening product, although a lot of people most likely have never seen a dentist.

To be continued...

PHOTOS Phare

2008-12-23T07:49:00.000-08:00

More write-up to follow soon! But in meantime here are some more pics.

My clowns! They are great!

Clowning around with the 12-19 year olds

The adolescents and young adults learning theater which they bring into the community presenting shows about relevant issues

The youngsters who live at the Maison des Enfants (because they have no parents or can't live with their parents)

Voleak, a spirited young girl who lives in the Children's House

.... and Apheap goofing around

My work at Phare Ponleu Selpak

2008-12-14T01:07:00.000-08:00

This is a special mission I have at Phare Ponleu Selpak (beyond clowning around for simple joy and delight).

The kids I work with are learning and preparing for a future as artists, as a viable alternative to trying to make a living as a rice farmer, or picking the garbage heap, or trying to sell trinkets and snacks on the side of the road -- which is what some of their parents do. Some parents have no work at all.

The youngsters are incredibly talented -- their drawings and paintings are fantastic and the circus trainees already have amazing acrobatic, contortion or juggling skills.

I teach them clown and physical theater as an opportunity to freely express themselves emotionally and physically (as opposed to circus training which is more technical) and to advance their performance capabilities.

I work mainly with two groups: one where the kids are between 13-19 years old and the other a group of young adults between 19 and 24. I also play with the younger children who stay in the Children's House, age 9-13.

The young adults I work with go out into the community and do shows about relevant local issues, such as domestic violence, HIV/AIDS and trafficking. A couple of youngsters are preparing to go to hospitals to clown for sick children. I help them prepare and work with them to enrich their playing.

[To be continued.]

PHOTOS Phare Ponleu Selpak

2008-12-13T02:38:00.001-08:00

The road to Phare

The grounds... with circus school in background. And this is the visual art center.

Here's the music school.

The daycare leisure center

The house where I live (that's my room on the corner)

Morning workout

End of school day 5pm

Hanging outside the daycare leisure center

All pics AZ

Phare Ponleu Selpak Nov 8 - Dec 8

2008-12-13T02:27:00.001-08:00

For one month I have been at Phare Ponleu Selpak which is in Battambang, northwest Cambodia.

Phare Ponleu Selpak is a school and art center for disadvantaged children. 'Ponleu' means light and 'selpak' art. It was started in 1994 by eight former refugees who survived the Khmer Rouge as small children and thereafter grew up in a refugee camp on the Thai side of the border. They lived in the camp from 1979 until 1993 when it was finally considered safe to return to Cambodia. In the camp they had met a French woman who taught them art and gave them the chance to express and work through their difficult experiences. Now they wanted to give other children the opportunity to express themselves and overcome the trauma of prolonged war. They based their center outside Battambang town, in a village where many poor live without land and without means.

Today Phare is not only a visual art center but also a music school as well as a circus school. The compound includes a public school -- from primary through high school -- for the disadvantaged kids living at Phare as well as children from the neighborhood community.

The children and youth at Phare come from a variety of backgrounds: extreme poverty, where the family simply can't feed them; domestic violence and abuse, a major issue in poverty-stricken Cambodia; children living on the streets with or without parents; and trafficking, where the children have been sold by their parents to Thailand to work as beggars, domestic slaves or in brothels.

One youngster told me one evening how he used to live in Bangkok (how come?, I asked, not thinking). He had been sent there as a child and had been forced to beg on the streets from 4pm until 4am. If he did not return with a certain amount of money he would get beaten. When he was 10 he was picked up by police, put in jail and then sent back to Cambodia, and eventually came to Phare. He is now 19, a talented and promising visual artist.

The trafficked children are occasionally caught by Thai police, or some finally have the gumption to walk into a police station, and they are then sent back to the Cambodian border where Unicef or another rescue organization takes care of the kids and places them at, for example, Phare. These children live at Phare. Others live in the surrounding community with their families but get fed at Phare, and some others just come for school. All who want to take part are welcome and all study for free.

Clowning at Angkor Wat

2008-11-20T22:42:00.000-08:00

Since I had a few days before starting my workshops at Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang, I decided to go see Angkor Wat, the enormous temple compound outside Siem Reap. A must for anyone going to Cambodia. There I took the opportunity to clown around with the poor children who run around the temples desperately selling trinkets to tourists. Along with me was Erin Nicholson with her hoolahoop (who had been working with children on a related project in Sangklaburi in Thailand).

'Mon', or "Mr. Cool", a natural.

When I first saw him, Mon was drawing in the sand.

'Mah', for whom we bought breakfast (rice and eggs, and banana),
or else she wouldn't eat. Which she then shared with her friends.

In the ancient days of Angkor Wat's heyday, they had circus too!

November 7, 2008

Crossing the border into Cambodia

2008-11-12T02:39:00.000-08:00

November 4, 2008
I take the bus from Bangkok (northern Mo Chit station) to the Thai border town Aranya. From there me and my traveling companion pile into a little tuktuk with all our luggage (stilts, hoolahoop and all) to take us the rest of the way to the border. The tuktuk driver lets us off on the side of the road by a tent and we get approached by what are supposedly border officials. They insist the price is 1,000 Baht ($30) for the visa, although I had read that's a scam; the official price is $20. They claimed you only paid $20 if you got a visa in advance. Well, we had to get thru the border, so pay up!
Then we walk for a bit and cross a checkpoint, then walk again some more, through a Welcome to Cambodia huge stone gate, then another arrival checkpoint, past a bunch of casinos (the border is casino central). Then a bus to "bus station"to get taxi. Where they wanted to charge us 2000 Baht to go to Battambang. Ha ha ha, very funny, nice try but no cigar. I guess we looked like easy bait. We walked away. But here was the hairy part. We didn't have much of a bargaining point. This was no bus station. And there were no other taxis around that I could see. In fact there were no taxis -- what they suggested to be our taxi was just a regular car. Earning some extra cash? It was incredibly muddy all around! And how could I drag all my luggage through that? (Somehow I did.) How were we going to find another car to take us? We pretty much had to deal with what was there before us. "Ok, you go find something else, what do you know, never been to Cambodia," the guy says. "OK, we will!"... Finally, we get in the cab on the premise of paying 800B which was fair. Then, once car finally takes off, after some false starts and driving around here and there and changing driver twice and picking up two other people (Cambodian couple sharing the front seat) -- it was smooth sailing down the road to Battambang!

By the time we got there it was too late to go to Phare Ponleu Selpak (the school) or rather the taxi didn't know where it was and I didn't know either really and it was dark -- so we went to a hotel. The Royal Hotel, the cheapest room under the roof (5th floor walk-up) next to the kitchen for $3. By the end of the night, however, I managed to hook up with the folks at Phare and took a moto (motorcycle) -- with my huge stilt bag across my lap! (about 5 feet long), and another moto following with the other bag --- and dropped the bags off at the school.

Before I start the workshops Í'm taking the boat to Siam Reap to see Angkor Wat. After that, it's non-stop work until the end of December!

PHOTOS - Roi Et - Clowning with the kids

2008-11-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

***

A bit out of focus, but we're all in a daze from clowning around!

Gangsta clowns...!

***

Making clown noses!

All photos Anna Zastrow except *** by Lizknoxpix

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Final day

2008-11-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

Saturday October 25, 2008 -- 9-11 am - Open House
Family, neighbors, community get to come and see what we've been doing with the kids. I lead a sample 1/2 hour workshop, then Pat does his juggling class. We do goofy warm-up movement to music and then move into funny walk. Duuun dtalok! The kids have fun with that for a while. And then I introduce falling -- falling backwards (into the mat), and I combine it with bumping into each other and then falling down. Two clowns walking towards each other, accidentally bump into each other and fall down. Two older boys do it and everybody laughs. Classic clown slapstick silliness. Parents and other adults from the neighborhood are lined up along the railing watching what we're up to. They are smiling and look happy.

I wonder how much the kids are absorbing and how much they will use this, what we've been doing in clown workshop. Are they getting it? Does it make sense to them, are they liking it? Do they want to use it? Juggling and such is much more tangible and concrete of a skill to practice. What we are doing is a little more abstract. Conceptual. And then of course there is the embarrassment of looking like a fool. Here it is good to be funny. Tini tam dtalok dee!

The kids create little mini shows to present to us. They're divided into six groups and have to come up with a presentation on their own incorporating what they've learned over the past two weeks. What they come up with is incredible! Great choreography and formations, with some juggling and others doing acrobatics around them, for example in the image of a flower opening (backbends away from juggler who is standing in center). Mirroring cartwheels and partner acro positions. Some silly movement and mime. Yey! They are incorporating all the elements. And two girls especially do an extended little clown routine. Doing funny walks and meeting each other but get stuck to each other with their handshake and can't get loose and then fall down. Bumping into each other. And even doing the silly fake 'walking down the imaginary stairs' schtick Liz and I had played with. And everybody's laughing, so they can see it works -- people are laughing and it's good! I was excited and proud to see them use what we've been dong and play with it, making it their own. Woohoo!

In general I was very impressed with what all the groups came up with and in such a short time -- just a couple of hours. Creativity and imagination at play! In the end, beyond specific clown schtick and funny moves, I think my workshop has helped open the kids up expressively and creatively, stimulating their creativity and ideas and sense of play. And that is the ultimate goal. Mission accomplished.

The teachers report to me that the kids are very happy and love "teacher Anna." I'm glad. Because sometimes it's been hard to gage if they are actually enjoying what we are doing and getting something out of it, some holding back a lot or shy or too cool... But apparently they all do, no matter their varying degrees of showing it in class, since they all excitedly talk about it on their break -- and as evidenced by their little shows they came up with.

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 10

2008-11-03T06:45:00.001-08:00

Last full day!
We continue what we've been doing. Mirroring, funny walks, partner acrobatics.
We also play with a 'duck duck goose' version with the honker (the horn). Liz sneaks around the circle with the horn until stop at someone, honking at him/her, and then Liz chases the kid around the circle honking. Ha! He lost his seat -- now he has to go around the circle and find someone to honk at. He picks Liz again and chases her around, but gets past her and sits down before she gets a chance. This the kids laugh at a lot. Ha ha, got the teacher!

October 24, 2008

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 8 and 9

2008-11-03T06:29:00.001-08:00

The children are doing extremely well, the workshop is going extremely well! How great is that. All the kids so engaged and fully participating and playing. We start the class today and the kids have already arranged themselves in a circle, ready to go.

Funny, though, sometimes (some days) they're totally into it, and sometimes not. Today, with the older group, we do funny walks moving in silly ways, and they, however, were not having it. Normally, they're totally game.

We do mirror game: impromptu, as part of music and dancing decided to incorporate mirroring exercise, and had the kids do it with each other, in two's. Worked quite well! They understood the game without any verbal instruction and had fun with it. (Mirroring exercise= face each other and follow each other's movement, one lead and the other follow, but slowly as if moving simultaneously and you can't tell who the leader is.)

Duun dtalok! Funny walk. Explore further. And put together with juggling or acrobatics, for example a funny character doing a juggling routine. Liz and I demonstrate different walks contrasted to each other, for example: Liz moving hunched over in a slow rhythm with big arm and leg movement; then, in contrast, I do something where I'm straight and tall with small quick and jerky movements. Together we make a funny couple. The kids do it, and some really go for it. Playing with being funny. What's funny, what's making people laugh, what's fun and funny to do? Good! Then we do funny walk with a trip into a roll on the mat, putting together a little sequence.

We also introduce partner acrobatics. One person lying on ground with feet up and the other "flying" on the feet (lying horizontal across with hips on bottom person's feet). I've done this flying-on-belly position since I was a little kid, a classic one, but they seem to never have seen it before. Lots of ooh's and aah's. And we do another position with one person standing on the other's knees (both standing vertical and holding each other's arms and leaning back from each other, balancing). Everyone wants to go, especially (again) in the 2nd group -- girls calling my name and saying me me me! First group not as eager. I think they still want to try, but just more shy.

October 22 and 23

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 7

2008-11-03T06:09:00.000-08:00

Great day. The first group so much more engaged and with it. We tried a "new" game (we had done it a little last week with tambourine): move and dance in all kinds of (funny) ways and when music that's being played stops, freeze in whatever position you're in. It worked well! They really got into it, dancing like crazy. Got them moving! In their own way. Having fun! Even got them to move all around the room (not staying in circle).

We start every class with passing a clap around the circle. And "boing!" And they initiate the "boing!" themselves. We don't have to tell them. They still think it's the funniest thing. Then do a little warm-up to music. Swinging and rotating shoulders, arms, legs. Shake it out (shake shake shake!). Play with contrast in movement in size and rhythm. Make yourself really big, reach up and out. Then small, teeny teeny ball, curled up. Then grow bigger and bigger and bigger! Big faces! Waaaah! Exaggerate facial expressions. Small face, scrunch scrunch, and then again, open wide eyes and mouth. Play with goofy faces. Tongue game -- out, side to side, up, in (controlled by pulling ear, etc.).

Then -- clown noses! -- and do funny movements, funny walks. And clown around with balls. Clown juggler. Drop ball and accidentally keep dropping it or kicking it away, fumbling like a fool. On purpose, of course! And practice tripping. Then practice an acrobatic roll into juggling into dropping and fumbling, then juggling again. Liz and I show. They laugh. The kids do it, and laugh. Funny -- great! Then practice a trip into an acrobatic roll into a juggling routine which turns into dropping and fumbling, then juggling again. Etc.

We also do 'rhythm orchestra' -- divide the circle into sections and each section do a specific rhythm and movement, and then all together.

October 21

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - 2ND WEEK - Day 6

2008-11-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

Day 6 (Monday, October 20, 2008)
Interesting the different dynamic of the different groups. First group less focus, and a bit less engaged and/or some much more shy. Have to really encourage them to play and do the exercises. Some girls do not want to do the acrobatics, even the simple rolls. They sit in the back. A few of them embarrassed that they can't do it well. Finally I take one mat over to them. Invite them to come participate. Coax them, take by hand. Friendly, jokingly, gently. Come! You can do it! And they come! Great. With a little coaxing they go ahead and do it and have fun with it, too. They just needed some individual attention and encouragement.

The second group (same age) is much more gung-ho, and when I bring out the stilts and ask who wants to try, all the hands shoot up, me me me!

PHOTOS - Roi Et - Clowning with the kids

2008-10-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

All photos Anna Zastrow

For more pics, also see Jerry Snell's Facebook page, Circus Summer School Roi Et (Part 1):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=77102&id=696786194

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 5

2008-10-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Good day today! We shook things up a bit. Did a little show for the kids before each class. Some classic clown scenarios, slapstick and relationship play (status -- one the boss, the other the doofus/ one straight, the other the jokester, e.g., or as in clown terms referred to as "white clown" and "August"). The kids laughed a lot! Great. I wasn't sure how it would go over, if they would laugh or just look at us strangely wondering what strange antics we were up to now. So great to see them laughing away all together. Humor truly is universal since the classic schtick we are doing they find hilarious too. Tripping and falling, dropping things, one clown making fun of the other, interrupting the serious clown with various antics and general goofing off. We riffed and improvised and kept the playing going -- playing off of the kids and each other -- and Liz discovers a game with the kids using the horn (honk honk), where we take turns chasing each other and have the kids chase us.

Then we did some clown movement and dance with the kids. Focus and participation good now.

And then, acrobatics! Rolls, cartwheels, headstand. The kids loved this and we had a lot of fun.
Boy, between the show (w/costumes on in the heat) and the acrobatics, we sure had a work-out today!

All in all a great week, great start. One more week to go (thru the 27th).

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 3 and 4

2008-10-27T08:18:00.001-07:00

Well, after another day or two more, the kids are opening up, finally getting the game and coming up with movements and expressions on their own in the exercises/games we are doing. Yey! We do a lot of movement and silly dance; movement and sound together, rhythm and formation, and general games to be silly and goofy. I try to get the kids to engage their bodies as much as possible.

Continuing same exercises, we play with movement and sound. I incorporate English lessons (the school wants us to teach them) in the workshop. Have them repeat words of what I'm doing. "Circle"... "Movement!" and "Sound!"... "Make a movement." And demonstrate physically. I get Pat to teach me how to tell the kids in Thai to "do your own movement and sound" -- "tam muen gan daeh kwam kit koun!" (i.e., do the same but your own idea). They get it (most of them) but still too shy to do it. But they are starting to! One little girl who is quite precocious gets the game quickly and starts to suggest to her fellow kids when they hesitate what movements they might do. Everyone together do same, and then one by one passing around the circle a different movement and sound combination. Then build imaginary machine. It's all very silly to the kids. We pass a clap around the circle and I specify to look at each other, make eye contact, and clap at same time -- and I exaggerate the looking part with my eyes and this they think is super funny. We do funny exaggerated faces. I pass out clown noses for the kids to wear. Liz and I improvise a little wearing our noses, clown and goof around -- and the kids get a kick out of this.

Nonetheless, the kids are very unfocused today, towards the latter part of the workshop. Tired? It seemed even hotter yesterday than today. 4th day fatigue? Bored with doing same thing? Off day?

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 2

2008-10-27T01:51:00.001-07:00

Today the kids are much more engaged! I think it helps to have smaller groups. Now about 40 per class -- three groups instead of two. They are warming up to things.

We work on movement and sound. For now I lead and initiate the creative movements, but ultimately I want them to initiate and come up with expressive movements on their own. We'll get there (I hope). It's a challenge to get them to do it at all. But they are starting to follow along more and do the movements. And they look to be having fun, even if still a little embarrassed. The older kids, too, so much more into it today! First day, they were way "too cool." (The typical junior high school kid.) I work on loosening them up a bit, get them to play and express themselves freely. They find the "woosh" and "boing!" game very funny (silly); laughing and giggling. (A simple theatrical warm-up game: passing a "woosh!" around the circle -- or "zip!" or a clap -- and when someone jumps and shout "boing!" the woosh reverses the other way around circle.)

Roi Et - Clowning with the kids - Day 1

2008-10-27T01:44:00.000-07:00

First day of workshop. October 13, 2008.

120 in the school and first day they put 70 kids in one class for us to do our workshop! Holy cow. After that we arranged three groups so we have a more manageable amount for each class. The kids are very shy and held back. I don't think they have ever done or even seen anything like this before. Silly goofy movement, especially done by an adult, in a class. On purpose! I see them act and move silly and freely when playing on their own in the school yard, they're kids after all. But to do so consciously, in a structured way, as requested by a teacher. To express themselves with purpose -- freely and assertively with creativity and imagination. That's not done in school. There is no creative play in school. No exposure to expressive arts, to theater and dance. I am told that in Thai schooling, children are taught to follow rules and not to have any ideas of their own. Total conformity. This can be said for a lot of education, in the Western world too, but especially true in Thailand, so it appears. Indeed, it's been a challenge to get them to move freely about the room, not in a circle or a line.

I wonder how they are receiving what we are doing. Not too many tourists come to this area; they are not used to seeing foreigners -- and here I am making all kinds of silly movements and sounds, acting like a fool! And wanting them to do it!

Roi Et - town and country and life

2008-10-27T01:29:00.001-07:00

It's a bigger town than I expected. I thought it was going to be a podunk one-horse little town. It has a rather nice city center with a lake and fountains and a pagoda with a large Buddha statue on a little island in the middle.

Well, the school we are teaching at is outside of the city, about a half-hour drive. We pass endless rice paddies, endlessly, along a red dirt road. Small neighborhoods with clusters of scrappy houses bunched closely together. Simple cement structures or wooden houses on stilts. Laundry hanging and various scraps littering the space below and the yard. Cows, chickens and dogs wander among the houses. And little kids. Suddenly, next to a scrappy shack with a corrugated metal roof, there's a big fancy house with white-washed walls, clean and new, and a beautiful blue tile roof, as well as a gilded gate and fence. And then another scrappy shack. Peculiar contrast. And cows everywhere, grazing between the houses and along the roads, in front of municipal buildings, on the soccer field, and in the grassy divider section between highway lanes.

We travel in the back of a pick-up truck. Common mode of transportation here. I like the sun and wind in my face. But sometimes it's going a bit fast, especially over the potholes in the road.

We live in one of the school principal's houses, sandwiched between a Thai boxing place (which interestingly is housed in what looks to be a cow shed, next to cows grazing in a field) and a temple. At night one hears the monks chanting, filling the air with peace and serenity, and then on the other side the "pow! bam! boom! aargh!" from the boxers.

Every morning at 6 am I am awakened by announcements on a loudspeaker with the occasional music and chanting. Apparently, the temples broadcast announcements (local news?) across the neighborhood. The ultimate public radio. I am pretty much ready to get up at that time anyway. The sun just having risen, the day starting. We go to bed early instead. By 8 or 9 o'clock we're beat -- after a hard day's work jumping around with the kids!

We work at the school from 9 am to 3 pm. I teach three intensive classes. It's hot. Already after the first class I am soaked with sweat! At the end of the day I feel like I've been run over by a truck. But it's great! Cuz it's good work and the kids are getting so much out of it.

The other teachers along for the ride are Liz Knox (from Canada), who's clowning with me, and then Pat, a Thai juggler, and Tony, an American ex-pat juggler, and they are teaching (you guessed it) juggling.

Roi Et, Isaan, Thailand; Oct 13 - 26, 2008 - Project info

2008-10-27T01:09:00.000-07:00

We are in Roi Et in the northeastern Isaan region of Thailand, here to clown with the kids. Isaan is an impoverished area relying on rice crops and often facing drought or, conversely, flooding.

Background Information

School: Dondaen Konwaisamakee. The project is located in Roi Et province, Dindam subdistrict.

The children who will benefit from this program are from underprivileged families in the Roi Et province. Children face problems of poverty and some even to the point of being like an orphan where their parents migrate to Bangkok for work leaving them with their neighbors or their ageing grandparents. Students are often involved in working or harvesting to gain a small amount of money to get through day by day. The circus activity is another effective channel that can increase their income but at the same time give them a chance to exercise and practice their acrobat skills. Villagers participate with students sometimes, and the children create shows for the community in return for rice. Up until now, the income from these shows is sometimes more than harvesting where they do not have to face the problems of droughts or flood.

We will be doing workshops in the hopes of creating a permanent structure for using performing and circus arts as an educational tool or simply a way to build confidence and resolve feelings of isolation and abandon in youth cornered by complex problems such as poverty, human trafficking, war, and AIDS/HIV. A simultaneous project is being done in Sangklaburi near the Burmese border where artists are working with Burmese refugees.

Above information from Circus Action International.

More info can be found under “Circus Action International” at; http://www.jerrysnell.com/.

AND I'M OFF!

2008-10-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

October 4th I took off from NYC flying to Bangkok via Detroit and Tokyo. Two hours plus thirteen hours plus six hours! That thirteen hour flight was a killer, especially since I got food poisoning on the way. But I survived and finally arrived in Bangkok at midnight October 5th (going on October 6). A few days to acclimate and get ready and then off to Roi Et in the northeastern Isaan region of Thailand to start the project working with the kids!

Finally got a chance to get on a good computer with good internet and create a blog so that I can now give you all a full report of what we've been doing with the kids and to show some great pics!

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PHOTOS - getting started -- in Bangkok:

Anna and Liz goofing off in the hotel room

Impromptu clowning with kids on a sidestreet of Bangkok