Mexican Border 2005

by Dianna on Mar.23, 2005
under Latin America and the Caribbean

The performance was attended by over 200 kids and adults from the area and was a great success for everyone involved. Before leaving we set a plan to return in April to perform again and also to offer workshops for the local kids in San Jeronimo and another community. Overall the trip felt like a good begining with a great deal of potential to create an ongoing relationship and to expand the project to effect numerous communities along the US – Mexico border.

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Ciudad Juarez
February
Participants: Wise Fool New Mexico
Journal

Wise Fool New Mexico sent three performers to Ciudad Juarez in mid February 2005. We arrived on a Saturday and performed a 1/2 hour show for about 30 kids and 10 adults in the yard of a recently burnt church which had been acting as a center for the San Jeronimo community.

The youth who attended were from a poor hill neighborhood of tin and cement homes where most people work in the maquilas. We were hosted that evening by local folks and Alex from the Comite de Obrer@s en Lucha. We talked alot about possible collaboration on an ongoing basis to bring performers and artists into this and other similar neighborhoods in the area where there are few services and no programming for youth, who mostly begin working in the maquilas at very young ages.

The next day we presented a longer show with puppetry, clowning, acrobatics, stiltwalking, live music and lots of audience juarez-feb-2005-4 participation as the main attraction at a day-long event to help raise funds to rebuild the San Jeronimo Church. The performance was attended by over 200 kids and adults from the area and was a great success for everyone involved. Before leaving we set a plan to return in April to perform again and also to offer workshops for the local kids in San Jeronimo and another community. Overall the trip felt like a good beginning with a great deal of potential to create an ongoing relationship and to expand the project to effect numerous communities along the US - Mexico border.

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About the Author

Dianna Hahn, Vice President, Board Member

After having spent many years in awe of Clowns Without Borders, Dianna is thrilled to be a part of such a unique and valuable organization. Dianna spent five years working with Windsor Mountain Student Travel, providing intercultural education programs for high school students abroad. She has taught second grade at Marin Country Day School, au paired in Paris, led students to explore the Caribbean and studied traditional tattooing in Samoa. In addition to her new role as director of Clowns Without Borders, Dianna is pursuing her masters in International Education at the School For International Training. While not a clown, she loves to be silly and laugh, which is a nice perk of working with so many who clown around!