Clowns Without Borders -“No child without a smile”
In a small public primary school in the busy city of Nairobi, Kenya, over a hundred children sit patiently waiting for their guests of the day; the performers from Sweden. As they wait, laughing and talking amongst themselves, they quickly notice the eight performers who enter the room cheerfully. Dressed in their colourful clothing, these performers are part of Sweden’s Clown Without Borders (CWB) and wherever they perform, they guarantee to bring a smile to any child’s face through their contemporary clown/circus acts. The CWBis an international organization dedicated to improving the psychological conditions of childrenwith their entertaining performances. It is based in a number of countries, namelythe United States, Canada, Sweden, Spain, France and Belgium. Their global motto is to bring humour and laughter to the children, specifically those in crisis situations, irrespective of their location. They perform in different parts of the world to relieve the suffering of children who find themselves in refugee camps and conflict zones.For the most part, they bring laughter to centres and schools that have less fortunate children. They work hard for the children forget about their tensions and misery of their daily lives, even if it jus t for a few minutes. Quite often, they find themselves working in collaboration with the United Nations (UNHCR especially).
Currently, a group of eight performers/entertainers from the Swedish Clowns Without Borders are traveling to a number of African countries, Kenyaand Sudan being some of them. They spend different amounts of time in different locations, depending on the number of places they are visiting. In Kenya, they performed in hospitals and schools, such as the Pumwani Primary School in Eastly, Nairobi; a school with refugee children from Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan. It was quite touching to see the faces of the children lighten up the minute the performers entered the room; their eyes completely focused on their costumes as the performers were setting up their stage. With a warm welcome given by the group’s team leader, the children cheered for the show to start, eagerly looking at what may lie behind the curtains at the front of the room. Their performances are filled with interaction; from drum to violin sounds, the children are absorbed by what they are seeing. At the end of the show, the clowns mingled with the students, taking pictures with them and talking to them, before packing up their equipment.The performers interact so well with each other and are very comfortable with each other. I was shocked to learn that they are all good friends although they didn’t know each other before joining CWB – the nature of their work will not have it any other way.
After spending a few hours with the performers, it was clear to me that they are very passionate about what they do. They love their jobs; they love making children laugh. Malin Ohrn, one of the performers with the Swedish CWB, informed me that all the work she does with CWB is on a volunteer basis. This is the case for all the other performers as well. They spend a few months rehearsing in Sweden before embarking on their expeditions around the world. Once they are on the ground, their days are filled with activities, from rehearsing, performing, debriefing and organizing their next performances. They make time to mingle with all people around them, especially the young children. Their eyes sparkle when they are with the children; it makes them happy that the children are smiling. As Malin Ohrn says, “when the children see us, something happens to them, you see a change in them.” It’s this change, it’s this smile that keeps the performers motivated to give it their all and to volunteer so much of their time and energy. It is usually quite hard for them to leave the children knowing they live in bad and conflict-stricken areas. But at least they leaving knowing they made a difference in the child’s life; at least they brought a smile to their face. Their lives are full of adventures and they share this as much as they an, with the people around them and through their journals. They make sure to keep journals and take as many photographs as possible so that when they go back home, they bring back the stories of their experiences.
For more information about Clowns Without Borders, please visit .
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Video Interviews
- Interview with Swedish Clowns Without Borders performer, Malin Ohrn
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