Give the World Care
If ever a city needed a burst of absurdity, it’s the Hague. I was so completely consumed by the lectures, luncheons and libations presented by the Clini-Clowns, who are the Netherlands prominent healthcare clown program, that I didn’t do much sightseeing. I’m sure there must be a less sterile version of the city that I didn’t see. The Hague is very famous for its international affairs and treaty signings, but unfortunately, no one was there to talk about peace this time, except the clowns. From rescuing young and old Ukranians from war to partnering with doctors to treat abused children, some 400 clowns from around the world were there to advance their ability to do good.
Imagine an airplane hanger with a curtain hung in the middle separating the room into a lecture hall on one side, and a wine parlor/coffee house on the other. Surrounding it all were studios where multiple classes and presentations took place simultaneously over the three day event. And as if it couldn’t get any better, the name of the complex was The Fokker Terminal.
Each day as we arrived to dive into our café latte there was an eight piece band playing klezmeresque music in a delightfully welcoming way - perched above the entrance. After much coffee and pastries, we would saunter into the lecture hall and begin our day. Each presentation had something special, a nugget, a heart-melt, or a weeping inspiration. Seeing the keynote speaker, a blind man from the World Health Organization, fall off the stage in order to find his way into our clown community, was a pretty awesome opener. Once we recovered from the shock of seeing him fall – and then get up in true clown form, we headed to our individual choices for the morning workshops. Below are some examples of some of my classes and a quick take away.
In Portugal, they have concluded a research project based simply on interviews with nurses, doctors and patients over a one year period and utilized the findings to advocate for more support. It wasn’t scientific, it was all anecdotal, and it worked extremely well for the clowns in that program. A clown from Sweden remarked that he thinks the hospitals should pay for the research.
A presentation on Autism paired the parents of children on the spectrum with the clowns that engaged with their children, and they talked about the observations of the parent and doctor. “Less girls are diagnosed because they learn to hide it.” Actually, there are equal amounts of Autism in boys and girls. The key words were authenticity and connection. Sometimes the only connection was the breathing. A German clown said that he often thinks of the children as being in a magical world that the clown would love to enter with them. “Play the game as though you are as invested as the child.” I love that. And remember that space is different for these children. Put your head around that.
I took a class about sex and seniors and it was wonderful. The teacher asked us a series of uncomfortable questions about sex and if you agreed you went to the front of the room and if you disagreed, you went to the back. Undecided was in between. So, after the teacher asked if we thought elders thought about oral sex when they were near passing, we would sheepishly walk one way or the other having little relationships with the people who were struggling with you. And that turned into a very powerful tool in getting people moving to their decisions, with or without their fellow players. The big take away is to not think of old people having sex as your parents, think of those old people as yourself.
In Israel, the clowns are engaging with adult mental patients and finding great success with lowering hostility and teaching them to play and dance and move. The scenarios based on actual encounters were astonishing because they developed such trust that they could hurl each other around and find balance with one another, a clown and a mental patient. The Dream Doctors in Israel are very empowered because of their great acceptance in the country, and move forward in unusual directions.
As I watched the closing ceremony, crying with 400 clowns, being inspired by a woman who said to forget about Healthcare, just give the world Care, I knew I had to do one more thing. The next morning on my train out of the Hague I saw something amazing, billions of multi colored Tulips. That Hague is one beautiful city.