LOKA HUMANA social outreach theater: February 2010

Last show in Jakarta!

On Saturday, February 27, we headed back to Cilincing to do a show at the elementary school!

This is the same school where the younger children go who we've been working with over the past few weeks. Finally they get to see us goof around in a performance for them! We all had a blast.

BALI

For two weeks I'm off to Bali -- to explore Balinese culture and, specifically, to study mask! This is a separate project (and funded separately) from my clowning around with the kids. Last week of February I return to Jakarta for a few more shows and workshops!

Bali. Beautiful island with beautiful nature and beautiful temples and beautiful ceremonies and beautiful people.

Rumah Sakit Kanker

Saturday February 6

Today I went to the main cancer hospital here in Jakarta, called Dharimais, and played with the kids there. I joined a few students from Jakarta International High School, who sometimes come on Saturdays to visit and do activities with the children. Don't think they've ever had a clown visit, though! About six children aged 3-8 joined in the play room, plus two teenagers. I would have liked to have gone room to room, so that those children too sick to go to the play room could also have a fun visit! (They probably need it most, although of course sometimes a visit is not appropriate, one has to be sensitive to the circumstances.) However, it was decided we stay in the play room.

Sakia is the first to arrive, a girl of about 3 or so. I take out my slide whistle and start playing, making funny noises. Sakia starts to giggle: "it sounds like a baby," she says. (Luckily one of the students accompanying can translate!). I let her try too (of course, I clean the whistle each time). Later I play with a giant comb, pretending it's a musical instrument and singing along. Sakia asks: "Why is she singing with a comb?" (good question!) and then blurts out "She sounds like a cat!" What a cutie.

More kids arrive and I do a little of my cleaning woman routine, sweeping and dusting. I sweep the kids' feet -- so simple, yet so funny to the kids. One of the kids has lion slippers, so there's a game right there: petting the little lion and getting bitten, etc.

Each kid gets a clown nose, which they are shy to receive and even shier to put on. After a little while, however, as I'm clowning around, they start to try to put their noses on, unprompted.

While we are playing, the doctor comes in to check on a little boy. He wants the boy to stand up so they can check his strength. The boy stubbornly refuses. It's up to me to coax him with a little clowning. I don't even remember what we were doing, but at some point the boy stands up by himself, caught up in the game and forgetting he was not going to. Then the doctor wants to get the boy to walk around a bit. Again, the boy is not having it. Uh-oh. What to do...? He did like the giant scissor I was playing with before, which one of the JIS students picks up to coax him with, and suddenly a game gets started where he is trying to get me with the scissor and cut my dress, and starts chasing after me. All of a sudden, the boy gets up and starts walking! Ha! The boy had fun, and the doctor got what he wanted. Yey!

When I leave, we walk down the hall and as I pass by the rooms, I see Sakia returning to one of them. She points to me and exclaims: "Badut!" That is: "Clown!"

Street working children in Jakarta

Little children selling newspapers in the middle of traffic at ten o’clock at night. Breaks my heart. At the side of the road is the adult watching them and making sure they work (and taking all the money).

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Some observations and experiences in Jakarta

I went to visit the main mosque in Jakarta – it’s the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia. It's gigantic. Standing in front of it, as I’m listening to the afternoon prayer, this little kid comes up to me to beg for money showing me his broken flip-flop. And I say, Where can I buy you new shoes? Because I'm not giving money. It’s hard to know when it’s a ruse by an adult, sending a child for sympathy to get them money, and I don’t want to encourage begging. I doubt he’s gonna get a new flip-flop out of it, in any case. Then more kids and adults started approaching when they saw me stopped there. So I decided in lieu of giving money (and not having any new flip-flops to offer), to clown a bit for them and do a silly magic trick. Suddenly I had 20 people around me! We shared a fun moment together. They were thoroughly entertained by this strange blonde “bule” woman, clowning around with them. Hopefully, I gave them something money can't buy.

The other day I was on the street and a bunch of kids (teenagers and young adults) were grouped together across the street, all dressed in orange and black and had an Indonesian flag, and, as I gathered, they were on their way to a football game. They saw me taking pictures and started jumping up and down, waving and posing. Then when they drove by in their van (some sitting on the roof), they said "jump in", "come along" or some such (I don’t speak Indonesian, so I’m not sure, but I got the gist) -- so I did! It was very funny. So I rode along for a bit and we had fun and laughed. Then after a bit, I said I have to get off, stop the car!!! Luckily, I found my way back to my street. And picked up some good tofu from a street vendor on the way! Gotta get some when you can get some. Saya tidak makan daging!

Some days later on the way to a show, we drove by all these buses with youngsters, also dressed in orange and black, with whole mobs sitting on top of the buses, as they were driving along on the way to the football game. Crazy!

At another time, I was downtown at the big national monument in the center of Jakarta, the Monas, and I was surprised there were no tourists there, well, no foreign tourists -- there were loads of Indonesian tourists (I guess they were tourists from outside Jakarta). Several came up to me and asked to take photo with me – I became a tourist attraction! This keeps happening. To people in central Jakarta, it’s not that strange to see a foreigner (and a blonde one, to boot), but certainly to folks from other provinces, as well as to the kids out in the slums, it’s more of a rare sight. Something they just see on television – and here’s a real, live one!

The kids stare at me like I’m a space alien. And then they giggle and say “good morning!” Even if it’s afternoon. Because that’s all they learned. Good morning, good morning, good morning!

The kids love to be "scared" and chased. It's funny. More so, it seems, than other kids I've come across. I play this "game" with the kids in the neighborhood where I'm staying with Dan. Because I see them staring at me, so I make a funny face, and pretend to be a monster. Aaaah, they run off. Then they approach again. So I do it again. And it becomes a game. One little boy who came by on his bike, saw me make a scary face, and got a bit scared for real: Mommy, mommy, he yells, pedaling away. But then he comes back. Eventually, he becomes the one most engaged in the game, coming closer and closer, I pretend to not notice, and then I do my monster move, aaaaah! And they run off laughing and giggling. And it starts all over again.

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Clowning around Jakarta

The past two weeks (Jan. 25 to Feb. 6), Dan and I have been going to various kampungs to do our show and workshop. On occasion I go by myself. Dan's organization Hidung Merah Circus is growing a lot, so he has to do administrative work too. I, on the other hand, can just get out there and play with the kids!

So on Monday, January 25, off I go to entertain poor kids in an afterschool program. I'm not sure where exactly I went, don't have all the details yet [tba]. It's in a regular little house in a neighborhood in south Jakarta. I improvise a little show playing a "cleaning woman" goofing around with a broom and duster and various other props. Always a good gag. Enter sweeping, don't see audience, singing to myself sillily, take out my yellow feather duster and start dusting about, including myself (under arms, brushing teeth, whatnot) and then start dusting the director of the afterschool program -- always good to goof around with the kids' teacher or director, ha! And then suddenly I realize what I'm doing and I see the audience and all the kids -- aaaaahh! Oh, hello! Since I see I have an audience I better perform, so I sing into the duster as a mic, do a little Michael Jackson and moonwalk (MJ is huge over here!), and various other goofy antics. It's funny, I really don't have to do much -- when I arrive in beginning and I go to change in another room, I close the door and open it again to peek out, repeating this several times: the kids erupt in giggles and guffaws. Doesn't take much sometimes! ;o] Well, I'm a funny-looking foreigner with crazy hair and big shoes, that's enough to make 'em laugh! Afterwards, I do a workshop and we play and have fun together.

by AZ

On Tuesday, January 26, we go to Bintaro Lama kampung in southern Jakarta. This is a poor garbage-picking community. That is, they pick garbage for a living. Their occupation is to collect garbage from around the area and process it. Meaning it all ends up in a field behind their collection of shacks. Some of it it does get recycled and reused. Plastics may get passed on to someone who deals with recycling and reuse. I am not quite clear yet on how it all works. There is no official garbage pick-up that I know of in Jakarta. But garbage does get picked up. At Dan's house, he hangs a bag of garbage on the fence and by morning it's mysteriously gone. He pays someone a few dollars a month to take care of it. Someone such as these garbage-pickers, presumably. Sometimes, plastic containers and bags get cleaned and then used to create new items, such as purses, shopping bags, bathroom mats, etc., to then be sold for profit. This, for example, is a project that's been developed in Cilincing as an opportunity for the community to gain additional income (more on that later).

In the garbage field, a gaggle of geese pick about with their ducklings (or should that be gooslings?). Cats and chickens wander everywhere, including in the middle of our show.

We had already gone there last week to do a show for the kids, and now are back to do a workshop.

As we drive up, a kid hanging by the road sees us and bursts out “Badut! Badut!!!” (That is, clown, clown!) He’s about to burst with excitement. He and a few others run after our car as we drive further into the village.

I walk through the main path-way (can’t really call it a street) past houses, past people, past chickens and say hello as I go. The kids see me coming and run up. Time to play! Even some adults join in and try to spin a plate or two. I goof with the kids and we do a little clown parade through down the walkway through the village. Again, when we’re done and leaving, they follow us and run behind our car, laughing and waving. They're so excited! Great kids!

Photos courtesy Pak Maman

Friday, January 29, 2010 -- today went by myself and did a clown workshop for poor kids hosted at a little school here in Jakarta. These children are "economical orphans", i..e., they do have parents but their parents are too poor to take care of them, so a foundation sponsors their food and education. I take a taxi to get there. He doesn’t know where to go. Luckily, I have the phone number of a contact at the school, who helps us navigate through the backstreets of this area of southern Jakarta.

When I arrive the kids – all fifty or so of them – are seated inside the classroom with an empty space cleared in the center. They look at me quietly and expectantly as I walk in and set up my things. Not a peep. I turn around, walk into the center, look around at everyone, smile, and exclaim “Salamat sorey!” “Salamat sorey,” they respond. “Huh?” I make as if I don’t hear them. “Salamat sorey!!,” they yell ten times louder. “Huh?” again. “Sorey!!!,” they shout at the top of their lungs. Helps to pump us up and get things going a bit! Everybody ready to be clowns? “Siep?” “Siep!!!” Let’s get in a circle. We pass a clap around. Then start some funny movement games. The kids are fantastic. We’ve got a great connection, they are totally game to play and we have a blast together. Of course, when it comes to their offering their own ideas, each one individually, they turn shy. But little by little they loosen up and come up with great ideas of a silly movement or clown walk or animal we can play. When I encourage them to make it bigger and louder, to exaggerate what they’re doing, they freely go for it. The energy and enthusiasm is almost overwhelming. I’ve started speaking some Indonesian, using some key words to direct the action, which of course helps in communication and connection. Before I know it, over an hour has passed by. I am drenched in sweat, as usual. A good day!

The next day we do a show in the middle of an intersection of a neighborhood, like street theater, surrounded on all sides by kids and adults alike. A Yayasan (Foundation) has brought a group of kids from an orphanage and the whole neighborhood gathers around as well to watch. Great fun, good show!

We also go to the kampung of Taluk Gong, northern Jakarta.

The following week, I go alone to Rawamangun, a kampung to the west of Jakarta to join Ibu Madrik's afterschool group of poor kids from the neighboorhood. I do a little performance and a workshop. Then the sky breaks open and rain floods down. It takes me about two hours to get home through the rain and traffic.

We mostly go to one location per day for a performance and or workshop. It is hard to do any more, because the traffic in Jakarta is so bad that it takes about an hour or two each way just to get there. That makes for a full day with a lot of time just spent in the "macet" (traffic jam)! At first I didn't think it was so bad. Then I realized what Dan was talking about. One time it took about an hour to drive the distance it would take ten minutes to walk! If I'm running errands by myself I prefer to take an 'ojek', i.e., a motorcycle taxi, it's usually a bit faster because they can weave in and out and get around the stuck cars.

Friday, February 5 --

Fantastic show with the kids in Bintaro Baru kampung in southern Jakarta. This is another garbage-picking community.

We arrive and walk down a narrow street, down a hill, into a dark alley-way lined with doors to people’s homes, where Dan finds the de facto “chief” of the village, who then takes us to where he suggests we perform. It is the village garbage dump. Hmm. An open field strewn with garbage -- one enclosed area contains loads upon loads of garbage, and everywhere else around, if you look closely, the ground is covered with old garbage bags, plastic wrappings and whatnot. There is a grassy area and perhaps we can do it there, but upon closer inspection it is also full with plastic bags and bottles and since the grass is tall it’s hard to tell really what is in there. Not a good idea, since we (or I, especially) fall down on the ground a lot. We then find next to it a small even area of mostly dirt, which is where we end up doing the show.

When we arrive the kids are flying kites, what I have learned is a popular pastime among poor kids here. They are simple structures made out of paper and plastic.

I leave to change into costume, and by the time I return, tons of children have gathered excitedly to watch the show. We perform in the round surrounded by about 200 kids, and adults, too. They are a wild bunch and very responsive.

Stay tuned!

A day in the neighborhood

Saturday, January 30

Gorgeous day today. Partly cloudy, not too hot. I can get used to living in this kind of climate.

It’s morning, I’m sitting outside watching the neighborhood world go by. Sellers hawk their wares pushing carts around on foot or on bicycle. I wake up to the familiar call of “Roaaatee, roateeee!” (roti=bread), accompanied by the squeak of a [ ]. Or the tock-tock-tock of the wooden ‘bell’ followed by the seller’s call: “Raaambutaaaan!” (a fruit similar to lychee) or “Pak-a-pak-a-pak” (don’t know what that is supposed to be) or “Buuuuuueeeh!” (some kind of bakery item). Vegetables, rice, fruit, bread, juice and ice-tea, ice-cream and candy. There’s even a truck filled with various household items in the back, passing through to the call of what sounds like “Scarraboot, scarraboot, scarraboot” (whatever that means.)

Women wander by dressed in jilbabs (head-covering). Kids scurry around or ride a bike. Motorcycles and cars intermittently squeeze by each other both ways on what is a very narrow street. The call of prayer fills the air from the mosque nearby.

A lotta clowning going on in Cilincing

Today had a great workshop with the kids! Dan spoke to them beforehand about how I was a special guest here and had come all this way, a very long way, to teach them about clowning. So don’t be shy and go for it! Well, it worked (or they had gotten more used to me by now, this being the third time I was there), because they were totally engaged and gung-ho. Last time they were game to play as well and do silly clown movement – as long as we did it together. But there was some hesitance and if I asked them to come up with anything on their own, and individually, they froze up. This time no holds barred as they clowned around, each one offering their own wacky movement-with-sound idea for us all to do and practicing silly clown walks. Most importantly, they were having so much fun doing it! Laughing away and having a great time, everyone together. Yey!

* * * * *

The people in this little village are very friendly. Well, they know Dan by now and why he is here – to help their kids towards a better future. And I’m with Dan, so they need not wonder what this “bule” (foreigner) is doing there. (Normally, would not be much reason for a foreigner to wander into this poor little fishing community way on the outskirts of Jakarta.) (Nonetheless, Indonesian people are generally pretty friendly.)

All photos above by AZ

[Bonding over lice…]

* * * * *

Dan had a meeting today with the parents of the children involved -- to talk about fighting that has occurred between these kids and kids from the neighboring community (an ongoing issue), and to talk about the program in general, the progress the kids are making – with circus practice as well as school, and about possibly building a community center with expanded learning opportunities. As I have mentioned, Dan has really engaged himself in social outreach circus, in its fullest meaning. That is, going beyond just juggling balls to juggling the issues of education and work to survive, which to many parents seem incompatible (they need their kids working to help the family). Juggling the many various issues of life in this community.

* * * * *

SHOW TIME in CILINCING!
In the afternoon, we do a show at the local middle school, which is a religious (muslim) school. All the girls wear a school uniform consisting of a white “jilbab” (head-covering) and long blue skirt. The boys wear a white short-sleeved shirt and blue pants. When I appear in the courtyard, the kids stare at me and start laughing. Well, it’s not just for the fact that I’m a foreigner. It’s because I’ve already done my clown hair and it’s sticking out of my head in all directions. I pass a classroom and all the kids inside burst out laughing—the teacher looks up at them wondering ‘what in the world is going on?!’, and then she sees me, and laughs too.

By the time we start the show in the courtyard, we are surrounded by about 300 students and neighborhood kids. The response is fantastic, they are really riled up, laughing and screaming at our antics. At the same time, though, as they are older kids (early-mid teens—it’s the same all over the world, at that age you’re too “cool” for some things), and as they are also dressed in uniform, they are a bit shy when it comes to any audience participation and don’t jump in singing and dancing with us when we play music (such as happened with the younger kids in Padang). When we go towards them they start backing up and running away. You can’t be too safe with a bunch of clowns around. Especially ‘bule’ clowns. I guess! At the end I start playing with that, with the littler kids, running towards them on purpose so they scream and run off – then they come back, so that I’ll do it again! Indonesian kids, I find, more than any other I've come across, love to play this "game." Funny!

When we’re done we hang out in the courtyard for a little while, to chat with the principal (well, Dan does, I just sit there as I can’t really chat in Indonesian except to say ‘hello, how are you, I’m from New York, great, thanks’) and enjoy some refreshing ice-tea. Aaaahh, just what’s needed at that moment—we are hot and drenched with sweat! Some kids gather around to see what’s going on and start to imitate our clown reactions from the show. They ask my name and as we leave, they’re shouting it behind me running after us and swarming our car. We have to be careful we don’t run them over!

All photos of show by Renny Antoni

Cilincing continued

Twice a week -- on Wednesdays and Fridays -- I go to Cilincing with Dan to do circus and clown with the kids. My second visit (on Friday, January 18) is on a hot sunny day. Now the smells Dan warned me about emerge in full pungent glory. Drying fish and rotting mussels. Mussels are the mainstay of the village with tons shucked everyday. Well, maybe not tons, but many many kilos. They get paid a pittance by the kilo. Halfway through my teaching, my eyes start burning from smoke wafting into the play space. They have started the fires to cook today's catch of mussels. By the time our workshop is finished, the village is in full gear taking care of the day's harvest, and walking back through the narrow alley-ways we pass huge piles of mussels surrounded by young and old shucking away (including some of our students, who have already run back to work). The walkways are permanently covered in shells. It's the stench of rotting mussel-shells that most of all fills the air. Still, it's not so bad. It's the smell of the sea. I don't smell open sewage or garbage as I had feared.

When we arrive again the following Wednesday, smoke lies in a thick haze across the village. The fires are already burning. Fish are laid out to dry. The men are out in the boats fishing and gathering mussels. Kids bop up and down in the water next to them – and wave to me excitedly as I take a picture. The water is very dirty and full of garbage.