October 2008 Expedition - Alice's Journal, Part I

THE CLOWNS EMBARK! - October 11th, 2008 - Elandskop, KwaZulu-Natal
(Excepts from Alice's journals to the Calgary Herald)

I've embarked on my 4th expedition with Clowns Without Borders South Africa. Our goal: to bring joy and laughter to children whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.

The other clowns are Gavin Stockden, Sibongile (Sbo) Tsoanyane and Bongiwe Mabuya.  They are all South Africans and are amazingly talented performers. We have built the show with references and songs that the children will understand.  So, guess who got cast as the kicking donkey?  Normally I play the trickster-type clown but this
expedition I will be filling the role of the jackass. Donkeys are common animals for the kids who living in the villages. Gavin cures my skepticism, "it worked for Shrek!".  However, most of these kids haven't seen 'Shrek', so I don't have to play against pop culture expectations.  I get to find my inner donkey.

We have just completed our first week of our month-long expedition out in the field.  Partnering with the Rob Smetherham Bereavement Service for Children, we performed two shows a day in the rural area of
Elandskop, KwaZulu-Natal.

Our first show was for 600 children.  While the children are getting seated, Gavin entertains them with his imitations of chickens and goat that are wandering across our 'stage area'.  Sbo and Bongiwe madly seat the children.  Meanwhile, I'm busy setting up the props and music.  Once everyone is seated and we're all behind our backdrop, we circle up and put on our noses. We take a moment to look into each other's eyes, so that we're all connected and feeding each other good vibes to ensure these kids get one fine clown show.

As the stubborn donkey, one of my favorite parts of the show is when Gavin picks a child to ride on my back.  When I'm galloping, I can hear the child having a giggle fit on my back.  For the most part Gavin has been great at picking small ones; however, I'm realizing that I'm getting to be one soft donkey and better start working out.

It's the end of the week and we've performed to over 4350 children. Granted one school had 1200 children.  That show went from a usual 35-40 minute show to an hour, because we had to wait for the cheering to quiet down before moving on to the next bit. Sbo is in charge of introducing us to the principal when we arrive and arranging the logistics of the show, which is basically "where's the best place to sit 600 kids?"  Sbo tells us that at Hemuhemu Primary School, Mr.Shozi, laughing after the show, said, "When I heard you were coming, I almost said no, but now I realize how much the kids would miss."  I dig those moments when I look over at the teachers andthey are laughing just as much as the kids.

In 2006, it was estimated that some twelve million children had lost at least one parent to AIDS.  There are over one million AIDS orphans in South Africa.  They live in extreme poverty and many experience abuse and neglect. These are facts that disappear when I see hundreds of faces smiling and hear laughter that pierces my ears.

We are heading 'home' for the weekend.  We'll be hitting the road again on Sunday, this time with everything: sleeping bags, portable stove, food, etc.  The clowns won't be coming back again over the next three weeks and at this point, accommodations are still uncertain in certain areas.  Next week, we're partnering with the Isibindi Vosman Care Project in Witbank, Mpumalanga.  I know nothing about the project and I'm not exactly sure where Witbank is…. But Clowns Without Borders expeditions are all about diving into the unknown and keeping a sense of humor.  Much like life I suppose.

The Calgary Herald is printing my journals in their Neighbour section

 www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/neighbours/index.html, which comes out on Thursdays.