In New Delhi we contacted Jesuits Refugees Service (JRS), an NGO started in 1980 that comes from the order of the Jesuits. They have been dedicated for decades to the attention of vulnerable people, the result of armed conflict or natural disaster, sometimes running many risks. Above all, they are dedicated to assisting people in refugee or displaced camps throughout the world, to assure them a life as dignified as possible, to defend their rights in the countries where they are refugees and to implement development programs for individuals and communities so that they can re-enter society as soon as possible.

JRS covers several areas of attention. They work in education, personal and professional development, economic development programs, health, psychological support, functional diversity centers, emergency assistance, nutrition, and also provide legal and human rights assistance. With 1400 workers, not counting the refugees who train to be teachers, they have helped millions of people around the world, in 60 countries … almost nothing … from the first moment we were surprised by the incredible social and help work what they do, giving hope to thousands of people around the world …

We had already worked indirectly with them in Myitkyina, through Sister Rose Mary of the Sisters of Jesus. We sent an email and we did not take long to receive an answer, Father Stan, director of JRS India, summoned us to speak with us. He suggested that we take a workshop for Myanmar refugees from the Chin ethnic group in Delhi. We accept without hesitation, and agree that it could be the following Monday. In Delhi there are about 2000 refugees of the Myanmar Chin ethnic group, one of the 7 most important ethnic groups in this country.

Chin is one of the 7 ethnic states of Myanmar. It is considered the poorest region with a poverty rate of 73%. 50% of the economic activity in this state is agrarian. In 1962 General Ne Win gave a coup in Myanmar and has ruled the country for 26 years. During this period the government carried out a birmanization of the country for various interests, persecuting all ethnic groups other than Burmese. The Chin ethnic group has been escaping to the Indian state of Mizoram, bordering the Chin state, where they are not recognized as citizens. More than 12,000 of these refugees moved to Delhi, a large city where finding a decent job can be an impossible task.

So the following Monday we went to the place where we had been quoted, a JRS development center where the Chin refugees learn English, basic informatics, sewing, and other activities to give work to people from the refugee camp. We remind that the main objective of a refugee camp is its disappearance, due to the reintegration of its people in a society without violence and that allows them a normal development. However, there are many refugee camps that have been in operation for decades. For this reason, JRS provides resources for personal and professional development, to enable them to earn a living independently.

At the development center we prepared what we had been asked for, a relaxed and fun workshop for the women who attend there … that is, a Clown workshop! Hahaha … We greet Steffi, Jovin and Morning, part of the JRS staff. We entered the room, and there they were, all women. A group of about 20 women between the ages of 20 and 60, sitting on the floor, some with children around their necks. They had no idea what we were going to do, their faces were of extreme shyness !!!! hahahaha … no problem, that’s normal … Hands to work!

We started with warm-up, fun, all motivated and willing, laughing at the sight of their partners. At first it was noticeable that they were not very trained in attention exercises, but little by little the concentration was increasing, getting them to give everything … The timid ones were very shy !!! hahaha … but others pulled the car dragging the group. There was a sense of community, of support among them, and it was evident that they went to the development center to learn.

Between laughter they motivated each other and challenged each other, pushed each other out and laughed together with each other … The improvisation exercises went very well. They were very funny with the nose of clown … that cute … at first they were all super tense, but little by little they relaxed and allowed themselves to enjoy the moment, laughing and commenting, amazed that they could be acting in front of a public …

We all parted with laughter, it was really fun and tender to see them there, enjoying as little girls, offering generously to their companions those scenes of their lives …

It was a great experience, they made a great effort, we had taken them far from their comfort zone, and they had responded very well, with courage and understanding the proposal, two very important values to take a step forward, to be willing to enter a society very different from his … We wish you the best of heart, you have everything to get it!

Through Lakshyam we also went to Vasant Kunj’s school. Google Maps had located it to us the first one, for that reason we did not ask for confirmation of the location, but it was wrong … We spent some time looking for it, and finally we managed to get to the place … It is located in the southwest of Delhi.

Neha was our contact, she found us on the road and accompanied us to the place. Upon entering we stayed a few seconds in shock … It was a neighborhood of barracks as we had not seen so far … All an esplanade full of cardboard, wood, sheet and corrugated shacks, at best …

The area of ​​the school is a space with a plastic on the floor, which in the distant past had been a brand new banner … The school was under construction. This consisted of a room delimited by walls made of sandbags. There was still half a height to think about putting up a roof.

The children were very cute, there was everything from the boy in jeans and shirt, the very cute girl with her pink curta (knee-length shirt), the boy with the tattered clothes and the naked little children who appeared from time to time out there … with dirty and disheveled hairs, with faces of rogues and pillars … a good photo … Families looked at us with curiosity, from the entrance areas of their homes, in front of the fire where they prepared the naan (type of Indian bread cake).

We started the workshop with translations of Neha. At first the children had a hard time, they were not accustomed to concentration exercises, they dispersed, we could not make a group. Little by little everything was improving, looking for the right exercises to motivate them, we got their full attention.

The clown exercises were  a little difficult for them, they had to open and expose themselves. Some even had a hard time reacting, they were a little lost, they just smiled with a nervous grin … Accompanying them little by little we ended up understanding, and then we started to play together, to share experiences, to travel together for a while in other worlds , timeless, where they showed reality.

It was a great experience, and the important thing is that they were stimulated, provoked and infected, accompanied by the hand to visit the interior of their imagination, endless and incredible place. When we left they were left wanting more, they wanted to experiment, learn and enjoy … they were motivated … but this would be the next day !!!!

The next day, we went straight from Ghaziabad, crossing the city by subway, from end to end. We miscalculated the times and arrived quite late … Anyway there all the excited children waited for us, only to see us went crazy !!! nervous because we arrived and wanting to start, they had waited for us for an hour and finally we appeared! There were also two young volunteers from Lakshyam who made us translators.

We started warming up in a wider area. First with the exercises and games, they were super motivated! Even the older brothers watched and helped us control the kids. We felt very welcome, people smiled warmly at us, and the children had a great time. Some older lady approached us to thank us for what we were doing and to shake hands with a big smile.

We prepared some representation, the boys were to eat them! Look at the photos! but what sweetness of boys and girls … we were drooling how sweet and motivated they were, giving everything, with the noses of a clown … More mature and savvy than usual … Each time an intervention was over, They all raised to not miss the opportunity to be the next, with their hands raised, desperate to play, act, share their own stimuli with all of us … Aaaaish … but that precious … you just have to see their faces to want to eat them! !

And so the afternoon passed, the children had a great time, we enjoyed it very much. Now with the rotis in hand, we suppose it was their dinner, we said goodbye and left, followed for a while by the smiling children, clasping their hands, looking at us happy … We took their energy, their simplicity and the love that we they gave …

We hope we have left a spark of joy and we take you with us. And for this reason we write these posts, not to show what we do, but so that they are in everyone’s mind, accompany us forever, maybe one day we will understand … You deserve the best …

Another organization with which we collaborated was Lakshyam. It is an NGO that collects funds to provide education to the population of the poorest neighborhoods of Delhi. It is not an easy task, not only they must collect funds to create equipment and pay salaries, but they must also ensure that these facilities are maintained and that children attend school.

Lakshyam works with three centers in Delhi, but due to problems of absenteeism we were only able to collaborate in two of them: Ghaziabad and Vasant Kunj.

The Ghaziabad school is located in the neighborhood with the same name, located in the northeastern part of Delhi. This school is a small building with three small rooms: an office, always closed with a padlock, a sewing room and a medicine service for the neighbors. Everything is surrounded by a concrete fence.

The children learn in a covered outdoor area, on a esparto carpet and with a blackboard. Inside the enclosure there is also a mini van with the name of Lakshyam that serves as a storage area, another abandoned car, some debris and a few demolished swings.

We were summoned at 10am, our contact was Aishwarya, with her we organized the children. Due to the variety of age, we decided to make two groups, and that day we would start with the older ones, from 8 to 12 years old. We had limited time since at 1pm another visit would come.

The children were very shameful, when we were in a circle the girls avoided being next to me, next to a man, we do not know whether out of modesty or shyness … hahaha … they were funny.

We started as always warming up, starting the group’s concentration, asking the children to pay full attention to what we were doing there … It was not easy, as often happens, but little by little everyone started to motivate themselves.

As we progressed with the exercises they got more and more into the interpretation, trying to do better, showing each other … all very focused !!! a love of girls and boys !!!!

The families, who waited for medication, from the room assigned to it, surrounded the students observing and commenting on the exercises they performed, curious and delighted with their antics …

In the end we lacked time for everyone to participate, but we would return the following week … So we said goodbye until the next day.

A week passed and we were there again. On this occasion Aishwarya could not come, so we tried to do the workshops without translation. We gather all the children. We were delighted to see that children had joined us who, the day before, were watching us from outside the premises … they were wearing their best clothes …

The warm-ups were repeated, most of them already knew them, so everything worked very smoothly. The following exercises were new and we needed translation … Luckily the teacher, who watched from a distance spoke a little English and helped us.

The interpretations of the kids were emotional, they all tried the best they could, some challenging a great shyness, others used to show themselves. As in the previous day, all the families surrounded the little boys who did the exercises, curious people enjoyed the interpretations of their children.

At 12:30 we prepare to do the show. We had everything ready when we gave the signal to start, and we appeared … The boys and girls were already motivated, any gesture and movement seemed funny. They received the shares generously and they were dying to leave as volunteers … So everything went very well. In this case I played sound technician myself, and that took away a bit of fluidity and brightness, but equally everything went well, all very clown and the children enjoyed it.

And finally we left, leaving behind children hungry for games, stimuli, curious and intelligent like any other children, but in an environment that does not help, to see if the good work of Lakshyam can help them to break the chain of poverty that tie them …

And the third and last experience with CanSupport, for now. This time it was on Friday, the Day Care for adults.

As the public was different we could make the same number as the previous days. This time everyone was sitting on the mats and just when we arrived they started to get up, but because at that moment they opened their turn to distribute the medicines.

We started the show, with the prized company of one of the responsible ladies and had a beautiful and contagious laugh … sure success!

The adults began to smile, but when we looked at them quickly they hid their laughter, especially they, they made the hard ones showing seriousness before our antics … That was simply shyness and protection, to minimize the possibilities of which we chose them as volunteers… hehehe…

A lady of the public, offered from the first moment to collaborate, did not stop laughing … she reminded me of my aunt Mari Carmen … I took her to dance, she challenged Mayra to conquer me, and we went to her to give her a little color to the scene with his presence … all a taste … The whole show continued with the enjoyment of all … with many protagonists … by timid or by daring … we played everything …

Once finished, we applauded and embraced each other, all delighted and with good feelings. Some smiles meant a lot to us, they taught us that we had really contributed to creating a better world, if only for a few minutes …

Before we left we spoke with Pukhraj, he invited us to accompany him to make some visits in the afternoon that he does on his own two days a week. We accept, sure it would be interesting.

We meet at the subway stop A.I.I.M.S (All Indian Institute of Medical Science). It is a mega public hospital, the largest in India. It serves illons of people from all over India. In the outskirts, patients accumulate for months waiting for their treatment, which can sometimes take years. So patients and their families move to Delhi awaiting treatment and stay on the street or in a “residence” designed for them, until their treatment arrives.

When leaving the metro we find Pukhraj. There was also a group of volunteers with whom he had collaborated long ago. They were preparing to feed hundreds of people waiting for treatment outside the hospital. They offered to help us and we got down to work there! Our function was to join the chain and give people water glasses. People received their portion of water with smiling faces out of curiosity towards us …

Then Pukhraj took us to where he wanted to take us … It’s about the hospital residences, where people live for months or even years. Prices range from a bed in a bedroom for 50 rupees to a floor space for 10 rupees per night. We went to see the crowded people in this last option, people without resources who also do not have the means to make a living …

It is a large room where each family is assigned a plot of 2-3 square meters, one plot attached to the other, on the floor, on cardboard, with the few belongings of the family. A really sad vision. There Pukhraj walks around the room and patients and family explain their problems, so he can make targeted contributions, such as medication, or in some cases items that can change lives, such as a sewing machine to make clothes to sell …

Many of the people we had shared with at Day Care were there. A man even offered us a soluble coffee from about … how little he had … to thank us for the good time spent with the show …

We were about to act there, we were ready, but the guards and the administrator of the site did not want us to make noise … to avoid any publicity, so he did not leave us …

It was a difficult situation, it was like walking through the lives of people who are not having a good time, but Pukhraj insisted, and he does a very good job. Our role there was to entertain and play with all the children that were joining our step. We made games and antics and had a great time …

A vision that did not leave us indifferent … see it to feel it … At the end we said goodbye to the people and Pukhraj who was going to the pharmacy located outside the residence with a retinue of people that he was going to buy so needed medicine …

The next day of collaboration with CanSupport was Wednesday, the day dedicated to teenagers. After the first day we already knew the way, walking 2 km, journey by subway and another 2 km walking through Delhi … it’s already an adventure …

Arriving; there were the teenagers, resolving negotiations with CanSupport volunteers, picking up medication, sitting on the mats, or just waiting to start the activities reserved for that day … They had already advanced that they would have a clown performance, and they were waiting for the chance.

The person who received us was Mr. Pukhraj, a nice man of the Sikh religion, who always wear a turban. He told us that they would start doing a little meditation with them and that when we were ready we could begin to act. That left us with enough time, so we went to prepare a small adjoining room. There we put on our clothes and make up, and once ready, we let you know that to begin with …

Just appear and began the first laughs … In addition to all the public was predisposed, one of the volunteers did not stop laughing very loudly !!!!! … had a very contagious laugh, and did not stop laughing .. It reminded me of our beloved Ulla, a clown companion who loved to laugh … the best gift to act … Quickly everyone joined the party, laughing and interacting with the people …

This performance was special, for the abundant laughs, for the improvised games that flowed like rivers, everything was expensive !!! There were also people in the audience were quiet, they were having a good time … although in a bad, very bad time … We try to convey all our love with the look, with our gestures, making them participants in this story, all together.

In some cases they were amusingly stupefied, open-mouthed, they did not respond to the stimuli we proposed, especially the adults who accompanied the teenagers … At the end of the show we discovered that if they did not respond it was because they were blocked by shyness or by the surprise of the moment … a love of people!

The whole show was a gift that the attendees gave us, everything flowed from the first moment … a joy … At the end we shared the comments about the experience, the opinions were very good, they had enjoyed it … autographs !!!! We were very surprised! and he also praised us a little … hehehehe … we are not made of stone …

At the end Pukhraj invited us to eat, commenting on the importance of the emotional work of adolescents. Then we agreed to return the following week to do a clown workshop with the same teenagers … And it would be a pleasure !!! But what are you guys … it’s a pleasure to see each other again.

The days passed, and the next Wednesday arrived !!!! the day of the workshop for teenagers. We are headed to CanSupport !!!! We reached the first floor, this time the adults were in the first part of the main room and the teenagers in the second part, separated by a screen … There we started the workshop.

There were about 20 people, boys and girls. We start with the usual warm-up. We were aware that we had to lower the revolutions a bit, but it is also true that a little healthy march was going to make them enjoy themselves.

We made a circle, most were standing, and some sitting on a chair since they were too weak. The truth is that most of us endured all the time! You could see them enjoying …

It was a joy of motivation, participation and interest. They were delivered in each exercise. In the small improvisations, there were a couple of teenagers who saw innate qualities as clowns!

They did not pretend, they did not force, they simply came from the heart. Their actions were rich in detail, easy to follow, with a tempo of silent film … It was a joy of workshop, these kids are very motivated … Maybe we can do something a little longer … we’ll plan it !!! We will love it !!!!!

After our workshop Franky appeared, an American who was on vacation in India and who also volunteered. Franky came to give a very special gift, he distributed a yo-yo to each one and taught them how to use … The kids were very excited !!!! all concentrated with their yo-yo …

For them it was a great morning, with many surprises, emotions and above all love, that support we all need to know that things can go well, provide a smile, discover something, share a new moment, an emotion. So we end the day, with happy and happy people, between smiles and hugs … it is difficult to describe, we take it inside.