The work has begun

So the teaching has finally begun. After all the waiting and preperation and obsene fatigue trying to get everything ready back in the UK it has finally begun! And it is amazing! so rewarding.

On the second day I had a child who was deaf and dumb on the unicycle and he was fairly close to pure joy.

So the area I have started working with is poorer than poor. I am based at quite an amazing place called Casa Naraña (orange house). Just and incredible initiative, the man who runs it, Jon Hairo, set it up because in the center of Cali there are many theatres and libraries and cultural projects but on the outskirts and in the poor areas there is nothing. So he works night and day, teaches in three different colleges and gives lectures and performs at festivals and effectively slaves away non-stop so he can provide this for the children of the area. I had quite a moving chat with him yesterday where he said every time you work with a child and give them a skill you are giving them a different option to the gangs. Because finding a legitimate job for these children when they are older is so so difficult. It´s heart breaking because you know there is only so much you can do. But its brilliant because he keeps re-instating these areas need as much help as they can get and he raves about the work Circo Para Todos do. It is such a fantastic, legitimate option for these children to not only get work but to travel, learn and then give something back to their community.

So I have been giving lots and lots of workshops.  The first day I gave a session in Acrobalance because we didnt have any other equipment but then the Unicycles arrived! And they havent stopped since. We have two children in particular who are just amazing!! they are turning the smallest of circles and jumping, all in under two weeks. Unbelievable. They turn up at the crack of dawn asking to practice and don´t stop until the end of they day when I literaly have to force the equipment from them.




Here is the theatre. Its an amazing space that he raised all the funds for and converted. Sitting there is one of the actress´s who volunteers there called Valentina but every body lovingly calls her Gorda which translates as fat. The culture is very very different here, much more direct much more open.

Here is the stage with Javier and another actress/volunteer Mellisa. Javier is an incredible human being. Very very generous and with an incredible imagination. He works here when he can, he makes puppets and masks out of rubbish and some of his creations are just incredible. I have some photo´s of the begining but none of the finished product because I am out of battery and in desperate need of an adaptor.

 The children are obsenely generous. They have so little but are still prepared to give all of the time. They are very generous with help on the equipment and are actually brilliant teachers. Some of them in particular would make fantastic teachers.

I had a meeting yesterday with Jon Hairo of Casa Naraña and the exec of Circo Para Todos and have some exciting news. We are getting more equipment and extra teachers from the school and we are going to be teaching in different areas. We now need to work out the logistics of how this is going to work but its going ahead. With a show at the end for the children put together by yours truly!! ahhhhhh! Also desperately trying to teach the children English. If anyone has any games or tips for teaching english then please let me know because the kids here are incredibly physical and understand their bodies so well but they have very short attention spans for  English.

Starting to try and think about this in the long term as much as possible because I now have just over four months left. What do these children really need? whats going to help the most? It´s incredibly challenging but hugely rewarding.

While I remember Javier is also looking for a beautiful english woman, he told me to write in my journal the following "Javier is a bad man, an ugly man but he is very funny and smart. Colombian women don´t like him. He needs an English woman" so if anybody is interested in a mask/puppet maker/teacher of drama then please get in contact. 


One night we had been painting the puppets and I had oil paint all over my hands. One of the kids took me to the kitchen got some white spirit and proceeded to scrub my hands for a good ten/fifteen minutes. It was a very humbling experience.

The main problem here for them is boredom. They are forever looking for something to do. they are all so bright and so able but just dont have any vehicle for any of their energy. One of the girls Valentina is particularly bright but particularly troublesome. I didnt like her instantly, she fights with other kids, was slightly selfish and very manipulative. I have since found out last year her mother was shot dead. I have changed my opinion of her ever so slightly and going to make more of an effort from now on.

 Although there are so many problems here, extreme violence and extreme poverty with a corrupt government that are doing nothing to help those in need. Everyone is happy. Everyone I speak to loves Cali and loves living here. They open their hearts to you as if you were family. It´s been an incredibly humbling experience.

                    Love this picture

Ahhhh the tropical paradise that is panse. Beautiful. High up in the mountains, a mountain spring and a waterful. Very special.

Will sign off now. It´s very special here and the kids really need the help. More so than I thought. I am frightened at times with the task ahead and with all of the dangers around but as Jon Hairo said to me in the car yesterday.

"often I don´t know how I am going to do it, I don´t know how I am going to pay for it or help anybody and it seems completely impossible but you just do, just do, I don´t know how you are here but you are. You just have to do"