Author Archives: Joshua John

Wednesday December 16th – Flying Out

And so the adventure begins! Besides all the items formally mentioned, we also had our personal belongings, musical equipment and other supplies we need. So needless to say, we had a lot of heavy, awkward boxes to get from point A (the US),  in and out of rental cars and motels, through the airport, on and off three connecting flights, to arrive at point B (Porto Alegre Brazil). By the time we landed at 2:00 am in Brazil, we were dead tired and crashed in a small cheep motel until morning (bringing all of our lovely boxes in and out of…

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November 2015 – Preparing to return to Porto Alegre

We are extremely grateful to the individuals and companies that decided to donate products to us so we can help those in need. We are bringing back little toys, stuffed animals (local thrift stores and salvation army most always donate some lightly used stuffed animals to us. One time, the company TY blew my mind and gave us a lot of brand new little beanie babies) , tooth brushes, soap, sanitary kits (many in prison have no access to sanitary items), rain ponchos, (it is rainy season in Brazil so many of the homeless have no cover), some chess boards, (which…

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September and October 2015 New York/ Philadelphia

We returned to the Sates in August to take care of some things and replenish our supplies. We took a few months to work on the streets of New York, Denver Detroit and Philadelphia. Sometimes we found favor with managers at fast food chains such as Taco bell, Wendy’s and dominoes and were able to get food discounted, or buy some and have them match what we bought. We were able to take a lot of hot meals to people that really needed it along with some kits containing sanitary items for them. So many tragic stories. So many veterans…

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Thursday, July 23 – Central Prison, Brazil, Performing for the Guards and staff

After the director saw the performance we did for the prisoners, he asked us to perform for an event they had for the guards and staff the following day.  We were able to bring them laughter and encouragement as well as trying to encourage them to treat the prisoners fair and just. It was really cool doing our Capoeira dance here in Brazil (where it originated). We always get people to participate in a “Roda” (which in short, is a circle in which you play Capoeira with another person while others stand around and clap to the rythmn). In some countries we…

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Wednesday, July 22 – Central Prison, Southern Brazil, Second Presentation

After our first performance in the morning, we then moved all our equipment to another section of the prison to go directly into a patio. There was this one gate you had to go through, (kind of like a turning door that you go through at a bank or certain stores, the kind only one person fits in and you have to keep walking to get out except this one was really narrow and made of bars) anyway, we had a hard time fitting our speaker through it and it took a good 20 min to finally figure out the…

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Wednesday, July 22 – Central Prison, Southern Brazil, First Presentation in Theater

We do an act where one of us wears the costume of a homeless man and walks about begging. I am in the back ground acting as an artist, drawing the homeless man. I watch as a man ignores him and won’t help (one of my brothers playing the part) and then finally a young man stops, gives him his coat and cares for him (another one of my siblings plays the part). At the end I, as the artist, show the picture that I have been “drawing” and it is of the face of Jesus, conveying what Jesus said,…

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Sunday, July 19 – Helping the Homeless

I had read things about about this city that said it is one of the richer cities in Brazil, since it is a port city, and so I pictured a developed down town area and a rich kind of atitude. But in reality, it was quite different. There are scores of homeless, and poor, so much so that throughout the city there are make shift tarp houses and tents all over. Even in developed places places like the airport, bus station and shopping markets. One day I saw this man wander in the rain looking through the trash. He stopped…

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Saturday, July 18 – Down Town center, Southern Brazil

The down town center is absolutely packed with crowds hustling and bustling about. Everything in Brazil seems to be big and busy. As soon as we set up our music equipment in the center plaza, a large crowd gathered. We stayed out for hours, performing and sharing many things. We learned how to make these massive bubbles that float up really high and are mesmerizing. Kids and adults just love to watch them in our acts. The crowd was really energetic and listened attentively to all we taught.

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Thursday, July 16 – Traveling through Brazil

The most southern state in Brazil is cowboy land, or as they are called, Gauchos and they take their culture very seriously. The land is beautiful, full of livestock, horses and ranchers. They have a cool cultural dance (which we hope to learn a little of) and are definitely a very distinct and passionate people.  One night as we traveled it was getting late and we were looking for a place to stay. After only finding places that were either really  bad, or too expensive, we finally came to a ranch type hostal. The owner was a very kind, elderly rancher…

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Wednesday, July 15 – Crossing into Brazil

Crossing the border into Brazil was super easy! Usually you have to go through one process for people to enter and then another for a vehicle and another for the trailer and usually along the way you run into technical difficulties (that could delay you anywhere from an hour to a day). But entering into Brazil they did not need any paperwork or documentation for the van or our trailer which was awesome and saved so much time. We started this drive so many miles ago in Colombia and after coming so far I cannot believe we are in Brazil! It…

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Friday, July 10 – Rosario Prison Unit 6

They call this prison a concentration  camp because it is so bad. It had rained the day before and so the area we had to perform on was all mud. It was difficult and everything got messy but well worth it and we were privileged to give the men a relief from all their suffering. My brothers wrote a beautiful rap type poem that is about being in prison and a perspective beyond the walls. The say it to a chill/dub step type song my father wrote and it always really connects and touches the prisoners, especially hearing foreigners rhyme…

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Monday, July 6 – Prison in Rosario, Argentina Unit 3

The prisons in Rosario were in absolutely horrible condition and over 100 years old. The day we visited it was freezing. I mean the wind chill brought the temperature into the teens. But despite this lovely weather, the prisoners wanted to come outside to the spot where we performed and did not want to leave. In consideration of them we just kept our show short and then asked them if they wanted to go back inside. They all said no way, they were fine and asked us to do more. I was able to give them each an aluminum survival…

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Friday, July 3 – Down Town Cordoba

For some reason I had pictured Cordoba being a some what tourist, uppity type place, but it was the exact opposite.  Many of the buildings were run down, abandoned and looked like they were condemned. The train station was a wreck and the number of homeless and handicapped on the streets was staggering.  The need was very great and we were able to help a lot of people. The down town center was packed and people seemed stunned that we were giving them a quality show free of charge.   I do an Irish style dance (our family heritage is Irish) where I start playing my…

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Monday June 29 and Tuesday June 30 – Largest Prison in Cordoba, Argentina

When I was online looking up contact numbers for the prison, I came across an article about it that said one of the worst problems in this particular prison were the amount of rats that came in from a near by trash dump. I didn’t think much of it and was just looking for phone numbers so we could receive authorization to get in. However, as we were coming in and out of the prison, guess what we saw lots of? Very big rats. As if prison is not horrible enough, I can’t imagine being trapped in a cell and have rats…

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Friday, June 26 – Prison in San Luis, Argentina

As we left Mendoza and headed to Cordoba, there was a large prison on the way. I was able to find a phone number and after one phone call the director, he set up an event for us with barely a days notice! This is a miracle and God definitely had destined for us to go there.  There were certain patios that could not be combined with other patios but the director figured out a place where we could go so that nearly the whole prison could see us and also brought out the women’s prison. It was an ideal…

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Wednesday, June 24 – One of the Worst Prisons in Argentina

The prisons in Mendoza are some of the worst in the world. In 2004 there was a major incident in this one prison where the prisoners actually held hostage a group of civilians that had come to do a theater act for them. Apparently the president was on the way and they had intended to hold him hostage protesting the horrible condition. Anyway, long story short, eventually the situation was resolved without causalities but this led to a policy which forbids civilians to enter this specific.  They were able to organize an event for us where we could perform inside…

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Monday, June 22 – Mendoza Prison

When we were performing inside this prison, the director and staff abruptly left and we later learned that there had been a death at that moment and they do not know the cause whether is was an accident, suicide or a murder. It was really tragic and brought a sense of sadness to the prisoners and the guards. To think death is so close to us and can steal us at any moment. Many of the men became very sober and really listened to our words and teaching.  This one young man I spoke with only had one arm and had just…

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Sunday, June 21 – Mendoza Center Park

Weekends and days that we do not have scheduled events, we will go to public parks and city plazas. We reach families from all the surrounding towns that come to the center to shop or have fun on the weekends. Children are so precious and we always have fun when they are in the crowd. They love all the stories we tell with our puppets in our home made puppet show (a pop up changing room with a cut out and curtain on it), and they are so bright and get the meaning behind all we do.

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Monday, June 15 and Wednesday June 17 (My birthday) – Prison in Almafuerte, Argentina

On my birthday we were inside a maximum security prison and did multiple performances for smaller groups because of security. There was a prisoner there who was blind and had a very long sentence. He placed my hands on his head to let me feel where a bullet had entered leaving deep scars. He had been involved in a robbery where he ended up getting shot, almost dying and blamed for the crime when he was barely involved. I just can’t imagine not only being in prison, but being completely blind and vulnerable. I asked him to dance with me when we…

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Saturday, June 13 Crossing the Border into Argentina/Dangerous Roads

The border between Chile and Argentina is located at the top of a pass up the Andes mountains. After we made it up the 29 curves (with a nice sign to count each one) we got in the line to cross the border.  All the mountains were covered in snow, the lake was ice and it was freezing with the wind chill bellow zero. We kept warm with ten cent cups of coffee (which was really black watered down water). In the same window you leave Chile and enter Argentina, so it was pretty simple. The only delay is when…

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Wednesday, June 10 – Prison in Rancagua, Chile

This prison was a long ways away from where we were staying and a long drive. I had come here days before by bus to get authorization and the director had welcomed us with grateful arms. We did two presentations for two groups. It was very very cold within these walls and the mountains were covered in snow. Originally we had a smaller group of around 300 men, but after the director saw what we do, he filled the gym with over 600 men. They were all very had core men and it too work, creativity and sincerity to win…

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Monday, June 8 – Prison in Valparaiso, Chile.

They had planned our event here at this prison for a few weeks, and everything was very prepared for our arrival. They even put posters around the prison so the prisoners could look forward to our arrival. Rarely are things this well organized. It was a very large gym and they filled it with prisoners. We did two performances each for about 400 men. They had it set up like a theater and one of the prisoners managed the lighting which was really cool. We do an act where we use a net to convey all the things that entangle…

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Thursday, June 4 – Largest Prison in Chile

We returned once again to perm for another group of prisoners since this prison is so large. The director was able to combine two patios so we had a large group of around 500 men. They were so very grateful for all the things we taught. They always love the break dance my brothers do and the up beat electronic style music we create brings so much energy and life inside the walls. We met two twin brothers inside who got into crime at a young age. The robbed a market originally because they were hungry and need food but…

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Wednsday, May 27 – Two prisons, a university and city center, Concepcion, Chile

We wanted to visit the southern city of Concepcion but had many events scheduled in Santiago, so we split up and my brothers and sister and I took a bus south. We planed to sleep on the bus there and sleep on the bus on the way back so would not have to stay in a motel (which are quite expensive). We arrived at 6:00 and it was absolutely freezing, I think it was like 10 degrees. We had two hours to kill before anything opened and I had planned to just doze off on some chair in the terminal,…

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Monday, May 25 – Central Park Santiago

I love performing for children and families and we have many acts for kids such as puppets, costumes and magic routines. Is there anything more beautiful than a child’s laughter? This park is a beautiful place and even poor families can come here on the weekends and enjoy many free activities so it is a great opportunity. A family came up to us and told us they had seen us in Bogota Colombia years ago!

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Thursday, May 21- Orphanage, Santiago, chile

We had a beautiful time performing for a government run orphanage in Chile. These kids had nothing and no one. The director told me that 70% of them will live their whole lives in one of the homes for children that the state runs. There are three homes, one for children age 1 to 5, one for children 5 to 12 and one for children 12 to 18. They get moved from one home to the next and then when they turn 18, they are on their own. It is so sad because I once met a young man in…

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Friday, May 15 Two Prisons in Colina, Chile.

After our first performance, we had to pack up all our equipment and drive a short distance to an adjacent prison. We were quite exhausted and purely running on the grace of God. Because of all the delays, we had only a shorter time to mount our equipment and perform so we had to really rush before evening arrived. Originally they were only going to let a small number of prisoners attend, but the director knew what we were going to do and allowed an entire section of the prison to attend which was over 500 men. We are black belts in Tae…

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Friday, May 15 Two Prisons in Colina, Chile.

We had to wait along time to get cleared through security since this is a maximum security facility. There were other events going on that we had to coordinate with but it was certainly worth the work. We were allowed to go directly into a patio where the men had very long sentences. So many act so tough and strong on the outside, but just beyond the image they are scarred sad boys and it is our job to try to reach the child within them and give them the hope of the Gospel. Sometimes humor is the key to…

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Wednesday, May 13 Puente Alto Prison, Chile

This prison has a large maximum security section and the director allowed some of the worst prisoners to attend our performance. We do an act where we use a ladder to help give them a visual reference that they can begin to take small steps to make a big change. All though they cannot leave physically, they can “go somewhere” higher and find a “place” within this place. We have to work very hard to be effective and sincerity is our greatest weapon. Many “churches” come in took take advantage of the men and get them to get their families…

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Monday, May 11 – City Centers , Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, Chile

My brothers and sister and I took a bus trip to reach the Northern cities of Chile. We were able to touch and help a lot of people. There was a train you could take between the two cities so we made two teams and then met up together. There were so many homeless and handicapped it was really sad. At a center park we got together a large group of homeless and had enough tin emergency blankets to give them each one for a shelter and also bought them some coffee and snacks. The city of Valparaiso was devastated…

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Thursday, May 7 – Community Center for the Elderly, Chile

We continue to work at different homes for the elderly. Some of the homes are so bad it is really a tragedy, they are neglected, lack basic necessities like heat and plumbing, and smell really bad.  It is winter here and getting very cold obviously being elderly, they get even colder. The ladies that run some of these homes had never seen the survival tin blankets that we have, and once I showed it to them and explained what it was, they were thrilled and said they would put them on all the beds. I was making conversation with an oler man, maybe 80 and…

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Wednesday, May 6 and Friday, May 8 – Largest prison in Chile.

This is the largest prison in Chile and highly over populated. There are two separate sections and we performed in each. We do a magic routine where we convey that they can find time, within their time in prison. Beyond just existing, they can invest moments in studying and learning things that will change their future. Afterward a guard told us who grateful he was that we did this act. We also do a magic routine to the song, “Alegria” and as we were leaving, the guards were whistling this song.  

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Thursday, April 30 – Central Prison, Santiago, Chile

This a very large prison and we visited it last year as well a number of times. We were able to perform in a large gym and use our projector to play a video backdrop behind us. It gives the prisoners a very high quality show as we play our time lapse photography of the American national parks. They have never seen anything like it. We do a dance choreography to a trance type song my dad wrote and we dress all in neon. It has a message that God is not in a box and brings a lot of…

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Monday, April 27 – All boys School, Santiago, Chile

We performed at a large all boys school. Lets just say, absolute caos! It was obvious that these boys have had no discipline, and no love from their parents. We saw inside a class before we started and the teacher is obliviously writing on the chalk board as the class is going nuts jumping, yelling, on their phones;. NO one cared. It was a heck of a lot of work to get 400 12 to 15 year olds under control and focusing on what we were saying, but in the end it was well worth it and we were able to…

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Tuesday, April 21 – Homeless Shelter Santiago, Chile

We have been working with a large Catholic foundation that works with the elderly and homeless and have done a number of performances for them. This one elderly man I met lost his leg in 2012 when he was working at a construction site and a heavy crate fell off a semi truck and crushed his leg. He said the pain is so severe sometimes he can hardly stand it because his hip bone is barely covered. He has a beautiful little dog that helps pull him and go up to people with a little basket around her neck to…

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Wednesday, April 15 – Catholic run Home for the Elderly, outside Santiago

I love working with the elderly and hearing their individual stories. They are so quick to smile and even dance. This one women, nearly 90 surprised me by getting up and showing me the cultural dance of Chile. Another women took the microphone at the end and gave us a warm thank you speech.

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Wednesday, April 1 – Odeon Santiago, Chile

We were able to get permission to perform at a center pavilion and had large crowds.

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Saturday nights, April and May – Central Station, Santiago, Chile

We were  granted a spot right in front of their Grand Central Station which is the only train and bus station in and out of the city. Over 700,000 people walk by this spot a day!  To bring joy to a sad world and hope to those that suffer is a great privilege. 

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Wednesday or friday nights, March and April – Puente Alta, Chile

 We visited the northern town in the out skirts of Santiago and were able to  reach very large crowds. The governor of the city organized an event for us once a week in a large plaza. He payed for chairs to be brought out and publicized our event to the public. We  had some very long, special, (did I say looong), nights there reaching a lot of people from all over the country. 

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