You Give Us Life - by Danielle Boccher

originally posted June 23, 2011 http://spinclass.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/you-give-us-life/

by Danielle Boccher

For this story, I turned to the internet to gain some perspective on a topic I’ve never heard discussed except in the writings of Sandi Dolitz Vasquez.  Usually, I never get past the first page of a Google search, but in this case, I was forced to go the next page because the previous one was riddled with clowns of the scary kind or entertainment companies looking for me to book a party.  Well, if I ever need a clown for a party, I need not look any further than the aforementioned Sandi, aka Violet the Clown, Nurse NiceAlot the Hospital HaHa Clown, Auntie Sandi the Clown and Ezmerelda the Gypsy Clown.

But on that second page, staring back at me was a listing for Clowns Without Borders.  Everyone by now has heard of Doctors Without Borders, but this Clowns Without Borders was news to me.  Founded by Jaume Mateu, known as Tortell Poltrona, in 1993, they have through the years, expanded to nine countries, including one right here in the United States.  Their main purpose is to bring a little joy to those suffering in crisis, in refugee camps of war torn countries, or those displaced by natural disasters, who face more sadness in their daily lives than most.

“People have brought mattresses, blankets and medicine, but until now nobody gives us life. You let us laugh and smile and you give us life.”  This is a quote from an interview with the founder, Tortell Poltrona, who recounted this comment from a director of a high school in Sri Lanka just days after the tsunami in 2004.  These clowns, all volunteers, wear just a simple red nose and perform for crowds as small or large as seven hundred.  How rewarding it must be to bring humor where there otherwise is none, to give a glimmer of hope and a feeling of normalcy to those living an incredibly sad life devoid of humanity.

I had the pleasure of seeing Sandi being a clown tonight at a party, not in character as any of her usual get ups, but as a “regular’ person as her son Benny would say.  She had her “Mary Poppins” bag o’ tricks with her in the car from a gig earlier in the day, so she brought it into the party to entertain the group of children and entertain she did.  There was one little girl, just mesmerized by the magic tricks, her eyes getting larger and larger with each slight of hand.  On her head was a balloon hat, on one arm, a balloon giraffe and in the other hand, a balloon dog.  If she had had another arm, she would have accepted another balloon creation.  She could not get enough.

And here was this little girl, who has everything in the world a little girl could ever want in life, so just imagine what impact she has on one who has nothing but a debilitating or terminal illness.