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Sri Lanka Journal |
The Clown's DiaryWednesday 23 MarchI arrived at the meeting ten minutes before it started. There were maybe 25 people there, mainly from small, local N.G.O.s. Within 5 minutes of the meeting starting I was introduced to the N.G.O.s and asked to explain what Children's World is and what it does and what it aims to do here in Sri Lanka. I gave my speech and finished by saying that if any one is interested in using me, please see me afterwards and I'll go into more details, show photos etc. The rest of the 2 hour long meeting didn't really affect me but still I sat there looking interested and taking notes. One thing that I did pick up on was the inter-N.G.O. competition. Apparently one group would be in a camp doing one thing with the children when another group would turn up demanding that the first group stop so that they can start their project. "This is OUR camp", and "We were here first!", were heard and I felt glad that I'd taken the advice not to work yesterday. This is exactly the sort of thing we want to avoid when we return in the Autumn! I also felt that in a town where racial tension and civil war is still bubbling just under the surface, maybe these attitudes were not the best examples to show the local people. I also noticed the lack of attendance of some (but not all) of the larger, international N.G.O.s. At the end of the meeting I was asked to show some of what CWI do. I'd guessed that this was about to happen and had already primed the ping-pong ball routine. It worked well - they all realised that comedy transcends language, and changes the common mood. I then showed photographs of parachute games, smiling children, laughing parents, etc. Afterwards two N.G.O.s approached me and asked me to do some work for them. One, the INTERNATIONAL OFFICE OF MIGRATION (I.O.M.) wanted me to do a show for them this afternoon. I was more than happy to agree. The other, MEDICENS DU MONDO (a Portugese N.G.O.) asked me if I'd do a show in the hospital's children's ward. The M.D.M team are psychologists who are teaching the nurses how to play with the children under their care. Some of the children are there due to Tsunami-related issues (trauma showing through physical ilness, camp-related hygeine problems etc). I asked how the monsoon in the east had affected the children's health in the camps, and was told that a lot of them had become very ill because of the conditions, some terminally so, and I fear for the children in the Hikkaduwa area where we first worked. The monsoons are due to start there in the south soon, and the last sort of problems the children need now are health ones because of muddy, wet and insanitary conditions in the camps. I.O.M. picked me up that afternoon and we drove to a large camp, where I performed for and played games with over 100 children whilst more than 30 adults watched. Amongst the I.O.M. team were 3 translators, which is just as well as the first one felt uncomfortable with so many excited children and half way through I had to change translators. It wasn't her fault. To translate correctly isn't just a case of saying the words, it's also a case of how you say them, body language, etc., but still her boss got angry with her at one point. Unbeknown to me, part way through the games another N.G.O. turned up and demanded that we stop so that they could run their games with the children. I have over 100 happy excited children and they want me to stop half way through, pack up my stuff, and leave, so that they can play their games. I'm so lucky that I can leave the politics to the N.G.O.s that I am working through. I.O.M. liked what they saw and asked me if I could attend their 3- day children's festival next month. I told them that I'd love to but, that unless they paid my flight cost etc, I'd be unable to, as all Children's World International's funds are committed to its Autumn Tour. They are going to talk to their Country Office in Columbo to see if it's possible. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying (unsuccessfully) to find an internet office with internet access, no easy task here, I can assure you! 
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CWI Tsunami Tour