CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS USA, TURKEY EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR TOUR DAY 6 OF SHOWS
Photo by @zeyneppsecil
Today we are leaving the earthquake coordination center. We were here for two nights. We have to pack everything and take it with us into the van because we will go straight to the airport to fly to Istanbul after our six performances today. It's very windy this morning. The crack in the tent is letting a breeze blow inside. It makes a sound like a saxophone as the wind moves through the tent.
Our first show was in a park with trees to shade the area. It had a playground with dinosaurs, slides, and swings. There were sculptures of Snow White and even the seven dwarfs. I also saw one statue of a troll. I brought my ukulele and played along.
The parade was extra long in the show. We got to see a lot of the park as we walked through. This park is big. And as we marched around, we drew quite a crowd for the show. It was one of my favorite places to perform. The park had an excellent feel that invited play. Everyone in the park enjoyed themselves. What was unique to the earthquake was several tent cities inside the park. These tent villages were full of families living in these tents because of the earthquake.
Photo by @zeyneppsecil
Photo by @zeyneppsecil
One of the highlights from the audience on our last day was a young girl. This girl saw Josie do a split while she was juggling and balancing one of her clubs. After seeing this, the young girl decided to show us that she could do a split in the middle of the show. Her actions inspired a few more girls to do the same. We paused as the girls did their splits before we continued. After another show that day the kids loved when I played the spoons on their arms and shoulders. I could've stayed there another hour just playing the spoons on them.
Video by Meredith
For our fifth, so we had an enthusiastic crowd. This crowd kept pushing to get closer and closer to us. At times, this made doing the show difficult. We made the best of the situation as we could. I did a lot of hat tricks and hat tossing during this show. It was one way of using the space that we had.
Our sixth and final show was such a pleasure. When we first saw the location, we realized this was an economically depressed camp. It was an independent camp that didn't get support from other NGOs. Folks here lived in some of the more dire conditions we've seen all week. After looking around, we found a spot in a parking lot for the show. Of course, we knew it was our last show, so I was there was a certain amount of nostalgia involved in doing it. The audience was enthusiastic, eager to participate, as well as happy. They had smiles on their faces and wanted to play along.
Photo by Meredith