Tumela

Tumela bo nTate, bo ‘m’e, bo abuti and bo aussi,

A week has gone by and it seems like so much more. Time doesn’t feel the same in Malealea where there is no electricity and my days are filled with amazing moments upon amazing encounters. The work with the orphans, trainees and their caregivers is well under way. It’s a different rhythm than the shows we were doing in the beginning of this expedition. I’m getting to know the local people personally and it’s so enriching for me. Everywhere I go in the village people now recognize me, they know I’m not a regular tourist and that is so precious to me.

After my last post we went to the handicap center and it was pure magic. Sibongile and I performed for them and they loved it. What a great crowd! To see these children in more than difficult situation love Pedalo and the interpretation of a Sesotho I offered them and then using my therapeutic techniques to empower all of them by playing music with them individually to make them feel like rock stars for their friends and family is something I will always cherish. The conditions these children live in is not comparable to the kids with similar handicaps back home in Canada.

Last Monday we stated the residency program. We meet the caregivers in the morning we do theater exercises and have them share and open up. We gently introduced psychosocial games to them have them play and learn communication tools. We feed them a good, hearty and plentiful meal at the end of every session which I think is the motivation for them to come and it works. They surprise me every day with their individual investments. They give themselves one hundred per cent and have such a good time playing the games we teach them. I see them becoming kids and opening up with very little inhibition. They were really surprised and love the fact that I eat with them every meal we have.

We have an hour and fifteen minute break before meeting with the orphans they take care of in the afternoon and my time is usually spent playing with Pulane, who is the local child that lives at the lodge I reside at. I showed her acrobatics and hand to hand today. She is a natural, like most of the kid’s here.

The orphans are wonderful too. They play like children should and forget about their circumstances during the time we spend with them. We started with games to get to know each other and now we are preparing a show we will present to their caregivers next week. They all started warming up to me slowly, which is what I had planned. Many of them cough a lot and don’t seem very healthy. It’s hard to imagine that many of them are HIV positive. We are building their confidence, I can see the change in them daily.

The trainees are great people too. They are paid to be with us but I can see the immense change in them from the first day to today. They seemed very skeptical in the beginning but I have seen them transformed and eager about the rest of the work and the future. There are two guys that are about my age out of the five trainees and today I saw them take out little medical bags from their pockets and swallow a multitude of different pills which I’m guessing is medication for HIV-Aids but I would have never guessed that they were affected. Same as the only male caregiver in our elderly group, I’ve learned that his 76 year old mother is HIV positive. What a different reality!

I cherish every moment here and I look forward to using the experience I am gaining here to help out the people in need where-ever I may be.

Malealea

We are on the way to the airport to drop off Jamie and then Sibongile and I are going to a school for handicap children to do a show and therapeutic clowning. We then have to pick up material and food for the residency program in Maseru. I will try to find an internet café to post this update and I hope to drop in to the Medecins Sans Frontieres clinic on the way back to Malealea.

The day after we showed up in Malealea was a national holiday and we got the chance to join the festivities at the neighboring school. It was overwhelming to see the energy and musicality these wonderful people have. With the breathtaking scenery surrounding us, the day seemed magical. We walked around and played with the kids but didn’t dress up as clowns since we hadn’t warned them of our presence and didn’t want to take any focus away from their event.

The following day was the first time we met the trainees and the caregivers. The morning was dedicated to the trainees, which are the local people we are teaching the residency program to so they can do it themselves when we aren’t here anymore. Some of them speak a little English which will make it easier for me yet all the sessions will be in Sesotho and Sibongile will translate for me when-ever it is needed.

In the afternoon we met the caregivers who are the more elderly people that have taken in one or more orphans or vulnerable children into their homes. The lines on these peoples faces mirror years of a tough existence and the cracks on their hands and feet describe their relationship to the land. I love the fact that here every session here starts and finishes with a song. They all sing really well, they dance and shout and laugh and the energy it creates is astounding. I feel like crying every time.

The following day we went to the two schools that these vulnerable children attend and put on clown shows for the entire schools. What a unique experience it was for me as an artist. A whole bunch of children who didn’t speak any English gathered outside, with the mountains overlooking us. The shows went really well, Jamie and Sibongile had preset numbers that I simply joined and our relationships worked really well. I look forward to our next shows, even though it will be different since Jamie won’t be there.

The work I have been doing here has been inspiring me to start up new projects at home with our Native communities. My mind is constantly thinking of how I can adapt the experience I am gaining here to the work that needs to be done back home.

It’s very demanding here but worth every ounce of energy.

Entering Lesotho

I am now on my way to Lesotho in our 4X4 truck with Sibongile and Jamie, who is the founder of Clowns Without Borders South Africa. What beautiful country we are driving through. Spellbinding mountains all around. We just stopped in Bethlehem for our weeks provision and are about to cross the border of Lesotho and South Africa to enter Maseru, which is the capitol of Lesotho. We are heading to Malealea, which is a few hours further and higher up in the mountains.

In the recent change of events, I’ve learned that Jamie will only be staying with us for 5 days and then Sibongile and I will finish off the expedition by ourselves. I am the official driver of the expedition since Sibongile doesn’t have a driver’s license. Very exciting in this country where they drive on the opposite side we do and where car accidents kill more people than AIDS. I will be very careful. I drove already and things went well.

Sibongale is a local artist who works full time for Clowns Without Borders South Africa. She speaks English, Zulu and Sesotho, which has already come in very handy for us and will be primordial for the rest of our trip. She will play my white clown (the boss) and I will be the red clown (the idiot). Jamie will be the number two clown while he’s here. It’s very funny for the people here that a black woman is in charge of two white guys because of the racial issues and because many men here have multiple wives, which could say a lot about the women’s conditions and authority. We are clowns though so breaking taboos is what we like to do.

My impression of South Africa is really good so far although everyone here lives behind bars. Every door, window and property is barred up. The people constantly remind you to lock the doors of your car and to keep your windows up while driving and to always be on the alert. There are a lot of violent crimes in South Africa. I guess that’s what happens when there are huge economic class differences and a lack of general acceptance and education.

I believe that through the children things can get better though and I guess that’s why I am here.

Humanitarian work....

Traveling to Africa
Mar 7, 2009 Post a comment




Passing the time at the airports by practicing my juggling skills. Had I discovered this earlier, I surely would have enjoyed my time in airports a whole lot more before. It's quite funny how adults will stare out of the corner of their eyes while kids will stop and even sit right in front of me to watch.
Flying into the Sahara Dessert. It's amazing to me that in the span of one day, I can fly from North America to Northern Europe to Southern Africa. I find it fascinating how small this planet feels to me now.


I started my clown work well before landing in Africa. Here are two African kids that I played with for hours. I couldn't help myself. The parents thanked me so much for making their kids voyages so enjoyable and both told me I had a real gift. I must admit I did feel it. Kids in general seem to like to stare at me so if I make a funny face or do something unadult-like they love it. I love it too. I guess I was meant to do this work.

A Clown's First Entry

Hello. I am suppose to say hello right? Like if I was talking to someone. 

My name is Maxime-Lee. I am one month away from being a Daddy. My first child, a girl, surely named Naïa. First one in the family and we are all very excited.

I am a clown. A professional clown, really. I work full time as a clown and love it, truly. How much better can it get, I get paid to play all day. I'm sure it's not for everybody but after having had multiple jobs, like being an athlete, construction worker, coach, salesman, mover, motivator, team builder, ect... I found the right job for me.

I guess I should call myself an actor. I do do multiple jobs. I just finished a contract at Opera, where I had a silent role. Yeah, that's right, a silent role at the opera. I do many things, from dance to classical theatre yet my full time job is clown and proud of it.

Now, not a clown with make-up and a wig handing out baloon animals mind you, but a physical actor trying to bring back the clown's reputation by doing good emotional and physical comedy. We've (as in our culture) destoyed the clown's image lately and understandably so. There are so many bad clowns out there and there's nothing worse than a happy face painted on the face of a person with sadness or madness in their eyes. 

Well, here is an example of the stuff I do, it's my website that I've just created and there are plenty of videos on it.  www.maximelarose.com

I will post some old stories I have of experiences as a clown and will add new ones as they happen. I work in hospitals, in the street, on "humanitarian missions" (which is quoted because I don't like the term), in burlesque shows and many other places and will post stories about my experiences. 

I hope you enjoy them, who-ever "you" are.

Sing, laugh and dance about,

maxime