RED NOSES Clowndoctors resumed work on the special programm „Dr. Clown“!

At the beginning of 2011 RED NOSES Clowndoctors International resumed work on a special project, which they had started back in 2005.

A detailed report about the project, you can download here.

A summary of our latest activities you can read here:
The INAD Center for Theater and Arts in Beit Jala approached RNI for help. In their new program, “Dr. Clown,” the artists plan to bring joy and laughter to the bedsides of children in local hospitals. In this part of the world well trained clowndoctors are needed more than ever!

For many young children in the Bethlehem/Hebron region, basic health services are not easily available. Children in hospitals are often alone, their families unable to visit and stay with them. This causes critical problems for the sick child and can even inhibit the healing process of the little patients.

Under the auspices of Giora Seeliger, Artistic Director of RED NOSES Clowndoctors International, the first auditions and workshops took place in 2005. Unfortunately the project could not be continued due to the difficult political circumstances in the region.

Last year RNI was finally able to secure the necessary funds by winning two grants – one from European Commission and the other from the OPEC Fund for International Development. RED NOSES could finally resume this valuable project.

The whole RED NOSES team was delighted when Gary Edwards (Artistic Director, CZ and SK) and Martin Kotal (Deputy Artistic Director Austria) travelled to Beit Jala from 8-22 February. In a very intensive two week sojourn, they held auditions where 10 young artists were chosen out of a total of 19. This new team will now undergo further artistic collaboration with RED NOSES.

During the workshop that followed the auditions, our two trainers were faced with new but very enriching challenges due to working in a different cultural environment for the very first time!

Here is an excerpt from an email which Martin Kotal wrote to the RED NOSES headquarters in Vienna on 11 February:
“We are totally engrossed in our work and are trying to understand the culture and daily life here so that we can find ways to incorporate it into our work. We are constantly challenging the participants so that they work well. After some initial despair, we finally achieved a great deal today and had our first big success! It is a wonderful experience, and I am sure a great beginning for an amazing cooperation!”

The 10 chosen artists have been invited to Vienna from 25 May until 8 June to take part in more workshops in order to enhance their clownesque skills. They will also be able to participate in hospital visits not only in Austria, but also in two partner countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

RNI is very happy to have the opportunity to work with this team of new Arabic colleagues and is looking forward to the future cooperation.