Loka Humana is a new humanitarian theater organization with a mission to bring joy and laughter, empowerment and opportunity to disadvantaged children all over the world.

The October-December 2008 project working with youth in Thailand and Cambodia was successfully completed! To follow along the journey and for photos, please go to: www.clowningincambodia.blogspot.com.

Thanks again to my donors and supporters for helping to realize this tremendous venture!

Below, I have outlined the next project: infusing joy and laughter into the lives of children in Indonesia! In September, I will be joining Dan Roberts and his Hidung Merah Circus in Jakarta. Together, we will venture to the Aceh region, where we will clown with kids affected by the aftermath of the tsunami and civil unrest.

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July, 2009

PROJECT

WHAT: Bringing clowning and circus arts to street children and youth-at-risk in Indonesia. We will be working in Jakarta at shelters for homeless children, at schools and at community centers. Thereafter, we will go to the Aceh region, which is still recovering from the effects of the 2004 tsunami as well as from civil unrest.

Performances and workshops will reach several thousand children, through both large-scale community shows and more personal contact in smaller groups. By offering workshops, in addition to performances, we will engage the children so that they themselves have the opportunity to express themselves through circus and theater arts.

WHY: Extreme poverty is a pervasive problem in Indonesia. A major increase in the number of street children followed the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and of course the current global economic situation, does not aid their predicament.

In Aceh, many children were orphaned by the tsunami or left homeless and are still struggling to regain a normal life and hope for the future. These children had already endured years of civil war strife. Now, many children suffer post-conflict psychological trauma.

While these children need material support—housing, food and health care—they also need an opportunity to experience their own humanity.

HOW: Engaged in theater, clowning and circus arts—the children will get to play and laugh, and through the practice they will develop confidence and self-respect, concentration and self-discipline, a sense of belonging and the ability to work as part of a team. They will exercise their imaginations, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

A sense of accomplishment and a sense of possibility will open up horizons beyond their current reality. Having an ability to conceive of a desired future state, no matter how modest or different from their current condition, will serve these children throughout their lives.

By sharing empowerment through joy and laughter, we wish to create an environment that encourages togetherness and unity. The more children we teach to get along and work together, the more peace our community will experience in days to come.


WHO: Loka Humana, the humanitarian division of Loka Maer theater company, in collaboration with Clowns Without Borders, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Clowns without Borders (CWB) seeks to improve the psychological conditions in crisis situations by bringing humor and laughter through volunteer artist performances as well as through workshops with children and with educators. CWB also seeks to raise our society's awareness of affected populations and to promote a spirit of solidarity.