What are our volunteers up to?

Here’s a look at what are volunteers are currently up to outside of their Clowns Without Borders work.

Brendon Gawel

brendon Brendon Gawel is currently working full-time as a puppeteer for the PBS KIDS Sprout Network. He performs as “Chica” on The Sunny Side Up Show and “Curtis” on The Sprout Sharing Show. Sprout provides a fun, safe and educational place on TV and online for pre-schoolers and their parents. He is also producing and directing for his own theatre company, OMBELICO Mask Ensemble. They produce original shows in the tradition of Commedia dell’Arte, a close cousin of Red Nose Clown. When he’s not doing either of those things, he likes to go camping.

Brendan volunteered on the CWB Project Haiti in 2007.

Dan Roberts

Dan Roberts is currently the Founder and Director of Hidung Merah Circus (Red Nose Circus) in Jakarta Indonesia. After his first expedition to Indonesia with Clowns without Borders, Dan decided to continue his work there year round. He now teaches circus arts and English in a fishing village, four times a week as well as many other weekly and monthly classes around Jakarta under served communities. Hidung Merah Circus also sponsors many of the students’ school fees and keeps a close eye on their progress in order to know how they need to be helped with their school work. His troupe just won first place on Indonesia’s The Gong Show, and received a prize of $1,000 to help continue programming in Jakarta.

Dan volunteered on the CWB Project Indonesia 2008 & 2009.

Gulshirin Dubash

Gulshirin Dubash is a free lance performer, director and teacher. She has been doing commedia and physical theatre work around the country, at places such as Notre Dame University, University of Michigan and University of Georgia. She also performs with a Japanese Noh theatre company called Theatre Nohgaku and have been studying Noh for the last 5 years at the Noh Training Project. Starting in January 2010, She will be working with Theatre of Yugen as an Artistic Associate.

Gulshirin volunteered on the CWB Project India 2007 & 2009.

Helga Rosenfeldt-Oslen
Helga is currently working with the mask theatre troupe, Teatret Thalia’s Tjenere and Teater K, the side specific theatre work of Teater Gruppen Beaggle, street theatre and a number of other small projects. Also, she is getting a BA in anthropology and fusing her two worlds of theatre and anthropology together.

Helga volunteered on the CWB Project India 2007.

Leah Able
Leah Abel just finished performing in a dance, musicand multimedia extravaganza called Creative Fire in Hawaii. She is now studying at the Vermont Law School through the fall of 2010 to receive a Masters of Environmental Law and Policy Candidate.

Leah volunteered on the CWB Project Haiti: March 2009.

oliiiii1 Olivia Lehrman
After a year of being on the road with Ringling Brothers, Olivia has settled into New York. She is currently performing her flying trapeze comedy at Streb in Williamsburg Brooklyn, and preparing for her first one-lady show at San Francisco’s Dance Mission Theatre and in the WOW Festival 2010.

Olivia volunteered on CWB Project Haiti: March 2009.

Tim Cunningham
When not working for Clowns without Borders, Tim works as an Emergency Nurse at the University of Virginia. He keeps a pocket full of magic tricks and is constantly searching for random things to juggle just in case a laughter intervention is needed at the hospital. He just finished getting his Masters in nursing and has been working with an interdisciplinary team of international researchers learning about the complexities of water usage and need in rural South Africa. He also enjoys running and playing outdoors; he is about to run his 8th marathon and is hoping to do it under three hours (fingers crossed).

Tim has volunteered on the CWB Projects: Chiapas 2004, Haiti 2006, 2007 & 2009, South Africa 2004 & 2005, Swaziland 2006 & Texas 2005.

Zuzka Sabata
Zuzka Sabata has just been hired on full time at Dell’Arte International as Community Coordinator where she facilitates and develops various projects between students, the company and local community members and organizations. She also performs locally in a brass band and with the notorious house-wife punk outfit, The Brendas.