In association with CLOWNS WITHOUT BORDERS and BOND STREET THEATRE

Circus in Cilincing

Cilincing is a poor community in the northern outskirts of Jakarta.  It takes us over an hour of driving to get there.  We leave the city, it seems to me, and drive through the country-side before arriving in a village area.  But Dan tells me we are still within Jakarta city limits.  This city seems to have no limits.  And it’s full of different “kampungs.”  Kampung means village in Indonesian, and in the Jakarta area it refers to a poor slum area.  In the kampung here of Cilincing, my partner Dan has set up an outreach program and comes to do circus with the kids two to three days a week. I join him to give the kids clown workshops.

First day I go there, it has started raining.  It is the wet season in Indonesia now.  You need an ATV [all-terrain vehicle] to navigate the gigantic pot holes flooded with water that make up the village road (or as Dan suggested, a monster truck). 

The community we’re going to lives down by the shipping dock, past an industrial area of cranes, rusting barrels, gigantic anchor chains, et cetera, where the children run about and play, and goats wander.  Chickens and cats, too.  The community lives off the sea, harvesting small fish and cockerels.  We pass rows of wooden boards where the fish are placed to dry.  At the end we come upon a maze of ramshackle wooden and cement houses. Dan leads the way through tiny meandering alley-ways to a small house that has the biggest space he could find for the children to have their circus workshop.  It is about 16’ x 14.’  An old woman, whose children are now grown-up and out of the house, lets the circus use her home. Where they used to practice got flooded out.







Because it’s pouring rain, we only have a few students today.  I learned some of the names (but didn’t catch them all yet) – Misno, Ino, Ipul, Rais, Dedi, Jajat.  For the first hour they practice the circus skills they have already been working on with Dan – juggling balls, clubs and rings. Then it is time for clowning and I do a workshop with them focusing on creative movement and expression.  We do silly dancing, funny walks and goofy faces.  The kids are game to play and are having a blast.

This is a very poor village and many of the children don’t go to school because the family can’t afford it, they need the kids to work.  The mother of one little girl refuses to let her daughter go, because, as she claims, it is a “waste of time.”  Sometimes the youngsters themselves have lost the motivation to bother with an education.  They are not given much guidance and support in that area, having sometimes to beg their parents to let them go to school.  And they struggle with self-esteem, feeling they have no prospects and no possibilities.  

Learning to juggle is great for these children, therefore, because through the accomplishment of this acquired skill, they build a sense of possibility, confidence, self-esteem and discipline.  To learn how to juggle, you have to keep practicing.  It is something concrete they can focus on.  In a while, they experience the results of their diligence.  They can juggle three balls, and then four, and maybe five.  Then they learn rings and clubs, and how to pass to each other.  And, of course, it is fun!  The idea is then for them to transfer this experience to other areas in their lives—to the pursuit of an education and the possibility of a better future.

This is not just circus but social circus.  Dan has really taken on the task of improving these children’s lives in every area that he can positively impact – through the vehicle of circus.  He provides guidance and encouragement for their study and their relationships in the community.  He works towards creating the possibility for them to go to school, talking to both the kids and their parents about its importance; or if they are enrolled, making sure they go.  He intervenes when a child is having trouble and provides a forum for communication and problem-solving.  Dan has a really good way that he communicates with and relates to the kids.  He teaches them social responsibility—to be responsible for your actions and your choices.  To be kind to one another and work together.  When you are here at the circus, this is a safe place, and no one will make fun of you or put you down.

More playing in Padang


Finally catching up on posting further! 

The next day (Saturday, January 16) we go to Mangur in Padang Sago sub-district.  We arrive to a field where there are big white Save the Children tents, created as safe places for the children to play and study.  Further away by the field, there are smaller tents where people are living.  We had been here the other day to preview the site, and I met two girls named Riri and Elsie.  When we're here now, they run up to me, and luckily I remember their names, so I shout out: "Hey, Riri!  Hi, Elsie!" and they give me five.  The kids arrive in a bunch and look at us as we're setting up.  "Salamat pagi" (good morning) I say and smile, and direct them towards the area of the lawn where they'll be sitting.  No fingers today (phew) -- that is, when we visited the other day, some of the kids gave us the finger!  Especially this one little boy, very mischievous.  And he shouts out "F-k you!" gleefully.  Of course, they do it even more when they see my reaction.  But they really have no idea what they're doing -- they've just seen foreigners do that, probably in a movie at some point, and think it must be cool.  Dedi spoke with them and told them it was actually not a nice thing to do.  So they didn't do it this time.  He taught them a different finger-pose they can do instead -- the heavy metal one.  (That one and the v-sign are really popular here, the kids always do them for photos.) The little boy is there again and looks at me smiling impishly.

The kids are really lovely.  So excited, so engaged, so eager to play.  They sing even louder than the kids yesterday when Dedi plays his song, and at the end they unabashedly storm the stage to dance with us.

In the afternoon, we visit Kampung Pinang in Nan Sabaris.  Here there is also a great field next to the ruins of a big brick house.  There is no shade anywhere, so we perform in the tent rolling up the walls for some airflow.  The show is getting better, as we start to get into the groove of performing it.  We’re starting to play off each other more, and play with things that spontaneously happen in the moment.  The kids laugh a lot – so great to hear!  As a start, Dan sweeps the stage and then sweeps the kids, chasing one of them.  The kids go wild whenever we go into the audience.  He and Dedi give out clown noses to all the children (as I hide for my "tourist looking for Bali" entrance-- but I wish I could give out noses, too!)  They bring up a brave little soul onto stage and put a nose on him.  Everybody erupts in wild laughter, and then scramble to get their own nose.  It's so fun to see all the kids in the audience wearing a clown nose as they watch the show!  We started off with about 70 kids or so, but as the show went along more came and joined because when we did the workshop afterwards we were suddenly faced with upwards of 200 kids!  We divided into two groups, one for clown movement with me and one for spinning plates and devil sticks (or as they call them here: flower sticks) with Dan.

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                       Elsie and Riri, with Mohemi from Save the Children                                           The little rascal
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Sunday (January 17), we driver farther, an hour or more, up into the mountains, up and down winding roads through lush jungle landscape.  Past steep ravines and over rivers.  And terraced rice fields.
We arrive to a smaller Save tent by the side of the road, right next to a damaged mosque.  The kids are already there.  A Save the Children worker has already warmed them up with a game.  I say hello and they excitedly respond -- they're ready to play!   Awesome show today, the kids really get into it, and as I mentioned yesterday, it's so much fun to hear them laughing and see their joyful faces!

For my workshop, I go up the road into a field, and Dan stays in the tent.  After 20 mins, we switch groups.  The kids are totally game to play and we do fun(ny) movement together.  It's difficult, however, to get them to do anything individually, to come up with something on their own.  Let's say I do a movement and everyone repeats.  Great, now you do a movement and we'll all repeat it.  Forget it.  Suddenly they turn shy and embarrassed.  Even the boys.  This is interesting.  And challenging.  These kids are much shier than other kids I've worked with (in Cambodia, for example).  This goes for all the workshops here.  So I switch gears and we do more stuff in group form.  For these workshops, where we only get together one time, the focus is not so much on a developmental process, but simply to play and have fun, get the kids engaged and laughing!

The kids here in Indonesia stare at me like I'm a space alien.   Now, I realize these kids may not often see Westerners, if ever, but still!  It's like they're in shock and awe.  Some back away when I approach, as if scared.  Not really scared, but I guess they're keeping a a healthy distance from the alien.  You never know...  Even after they've laughed and had fun with me in our show.  So I stay put and let them come to me.  Then they come closer.  Looking at me curiously.  I am definitely a spectacle.

And they want to take pictures with me with their cell phones.  Funny that -- some of them have cell phones with cameras when they barely have livable housing conditions.   I changed costume in a neighborhood house, to give you an idea:  rudimentary structure with bare cement walls and floor, a thin hard bed in a very tiny side-bedroom, not much of decoration--what we would consider poor and rather primitive, especially the toilet facility.  Some have no sewage system or electricity.  But many do have a cell phone.

[az]

 

 



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In the afternoon of our last day here, we visit a madrasah in Pariaman.  Post-9/11, "madrasah" has taken on the connotation to many in the U.S. of a jihadist terrorist training camp for kids.  But really it simply means a Muslim religious school, and literally the word refers to a ‘place of learning.’  I certainly did not get a sense of any extremism, except for extreme happiness at our visit.  Even the director of the school put on a clown nose!  All the female students do wear ‘jilbabs,’ i.e., scarves that covers the hair and neck, and long skirts.  These students were in their late teens.  Certainly, their age and their clothing made it more of a challenge for them (and for me to get them) to goof around and do funny physical movements.  Acting like a clown is definitely out of the ordinary in this environment.  Nonetheless, they had great fun at the idea of it, and trying it out a little bit. One girl in particular (I can’t remember her name: Eya?) was really into it, a natural clown.  And everyone loves the clown noses!  When the girls weren’t put on the spot, they spontaneously engaged in a game of silly dancing.  Spinning plates and playing with devil sticks definitely captures their attention and they gleefully give it a go.

                      [az]
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All photos in this post Renny Antoni, except where noted "az."


Playing with the Padang children

The first place we go to is called Kota Pauh, in Sungai Limau sub-district.  It is located up in the hills about forty minutes away from the town of Pariaman.  We drive up narrow winding roads surrounded by jungle (well, so it looks to me), the vegetation lush and green.  Along the way there are houses damaged or destroyed.  We pass the debris of a collapsed mosque.  Eventually I spy children ahead of us, veering off in droves to the side.  Aha, we must have reached our destination.  We arrive to about 200 children seated on the steps of a mosque. This mosque too has been damaged.

The troupe consists of Dan Roberts, Dedi  (and Renny Antoni, photographer) – all of Hidung Merah Circus – and then myself.  Dan, Dedi and I will perform together as a clown trio. We came up with a scenario for a show, brainstorming and practicing the day before, that we will improvise on in the moment.  The show is about an hour and afterwards we do a workshop for another hour with the kids.

To give you an idea of the show:  I barge in on the scene as an American tourist with big camera and  map looking for Bali and the beach and instead finding myself in the jungle of Sumatra – tigers and elephants and orangutans, oh my!  Various silly antics ensue...  Dan pokes fun at my being a foreigner, a bule as it’s called (and the joke, of course, is that he is a bule too), and translates for me, incorrectly of course, making it as if I'm saying wacky things, which the kids find hilarious.  Normally we wouldn’t use much language, relying solely on physical humor, but since Dan speaks Indonesian, he and Dedi can make funny jokes with the kids!  It’s great to have Dedi on board making for a multi-cultural show, with funny foreigners as well as homegrown ‘baduts’ (clowns).  As a musician, Dedi brings in a musical element, playing songs on guitar, that we accompany with ukulele and tambourine – or, alternatively, goof off to and mess him up.  Dedi plays a couple of popular Indonesian songs and it’s amazing:  all the kids know all the lyrics and sing along at the top of their lungs!  It’s awesome!  We were asked to incorporate some much needed social messages, and that is how I end up pooping on stage.  Well, not really, of course.  Dan tells me to go use the toilet.  You can’t just go anywhere!  Afterwards, I’m hungry so I say let’s eat!  Well, wait a minute, you have to go wash your hands first.  Right, kids?  All the children yell, “yeah, wash your hands, wash your hands!”  Hygiene and sanitation are actual issues for these populations.  We also play with the theme of friendship and working together.  After poking fun at each other and making things difficult, we come to the conclusion that things will work much better if we do it together.  Let’s be friends!  So we juggle together and play music together.  And have lots of fun!  And the kids do too.  The show is a big hit.  The kids are so great, they’re so excited and it’s so wonderful to hear their laughter and see their smiling faces.

Thanks to Renny we have some great shots to share with you of our show and workshops! (To be posted shortly.)

After the first show, we cut some of the acrobatic partner moves, because this is a conservative Muslim area and men and women are not supposed to touch.  Our funny handshake is ok.  Climbing on top of each other, no.

The contradictions of Indonesia exist here, too.  Some girls wear head-covering (“jilbabs”) and others don’t.  One little girl was wearing a t-shirt that said “I love sexy.”  And as our ending song, we sing and dance to a song all the kids know and which they sing-yell at the top of their lungs -- it's called "Sexy", one of the biggest pop hits in Indonesia.





                                      [az]

All photos Renny Antoni, except where noted "az."

Padang earthquake area, Sumatra

Thursday, January 14 we fly Garuda Air to Padang on the island of Sumatra (Jakarta is in Java).  My partner Dan has arranged with Save The Children to have us come perform and do workshops with the children affected by the earthquake that happened last fall, October/November 2009.  

Upon arrival at the airport, the call to prayer greets us through loudspeakers. It is noon and time to pray.  I don't notice anyone doing so, though.  Nonetheless, I am told this area is more conservative than Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia.  Better dress prudently, although not everyone wears the 'jilbab' (head-covering for women).

As we drive to the small town of Pariaman and onward to the surrounding villages where we will play with the children, we begin to see the extent of the damage.  Every other house is either completely collapsed or has cracks or gaping holes in the walls. Barely any buildings have been repaired or rebuilt thus far.  We are informed that the Indonesian government will not allow foreign aid organizations to help rebuild, as the government wants to take care of that itself, but so far nothing has been done. In the meantime, people have no homes and are living in tents or temporary shelters.

Our mission feels somewhat overshadowed by the disastrous earthquake that has just happened in Haiti.  Certainly the earthquake did not hit as hard here in Padang.  But whether a 1,000 or 100,000 people died matters little to those who lost loved ones or their homes.

We visit an area where a mountain side collapsed and buried a whole village.  On the way we drive through a makeshift road dodging gaping holes.  It looks like the earth has been turned upside down and inside out.  We arrive by a hillside overlooking a valley, which is where the village was swallowed up.  As we stand there contemplating the outcome, an older man approaches and begins to talk to us.  Luckily, Dan understands Indonesian.  He proceeds to tell us what happened to his village. It had been raining for a day and a half when suddenly without warning the earthquake hit, causing an immense landslide.  Forty children died in the school and thirty in the mosque.  He gives us gruesome details of bodies found, which I do not need to describe here. It seems he feels a great need to share, as one of the only survivors.


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Arrival in Jakarta

Finally, after a prolonged journey of over 40 hours, I arrive in Jakarta around 10:30 pm on Tuesday, January 12, 2009. 

Driving into the city from the airport, Jakarta looks like it could be any American city.  A highway sidelined by modern office buildings and shopping plazas (not only is there McDonald’s, but there’s even Starbucks)! 

Little by little, however – after a day or two – the extremes that are the city of Jakarta become evident.  The extremes of excessive wealth and tremendous poverty, existing side by side and simultaneously.  Jakarta is an industrialized first-world nation and a developing third-world country all in one.  It is a city of contrasts and contradictions.

However, before I get a chance to take in all that is Jakarta – and it is a lot to take in!, an overwhelmingly large sprawling megalopolis – we head out to the neighboring island of Sumatra, where we will clown for victims of the October/November 2009 earthquake.

INDONESIA!

January 23, 2010
I have now been here in Indonesia for a week and a half, almost two weeks – and it’s about time I start my blog!  Time to report on my clowning around – with kids smiling in Sumatra and jumping for joy in Java.

It feels like I’ve been here longer already!