2014 May | Would you Go Beyond?

Friday, May 23 201405/23/14 No Response

Friday, May 23rd – Women’s prison, Santiago Chile (where the fire was in 2010)

Back in 2010 a fire broke out that killed over 80 men. It was a tragic event that could have been avoided but the cells were so full that everything was cios. Some claim that the guards were drunk and thus could not find the right keys. It has now been transformed into a women’s prison and you could still see and smell the effects of the fire. I wrote an act we do using a song called “Alegria”, which combines clowns, magic and dance. It carries the message that if we care about others, more than ourselves, we find…

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Thursday, May 22 201405/22/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Thursday, May 22nd – High School outside Santiago Chile, 700 teens

Teenagers are a more difficult crowd to get through to sometimes, since they are now at the age of trying to be cool and get the guy or girl to think they are funny. But many of them are very eager to listen and hear an alternative to all the problems they are facing. It takes a lot of work on our part, we have to constantly change things up, sometimes be crazy and fun and then sometimes be really stern. Sometimes let them participate with us, and sometimes just teach them. They are at the time in their lives where…

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Tuesday, May 20 201405/20/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Tuesday, May 20th Largest prison in Santiago, The “Oval” – 700 plus prisoners

It took some serious convincing to talk the warden into letting us perform here in the center of the entire prison, but because he had seen the previous presentations we had done at this prison last week, he allowed it and trusted us. All the patios and cells look into this area and so beside the 700 prisoners that were allowed to come into the circle, all the other men could hear and partially see. There are some cell blocks where the men are NEVER let out into the court to exercise. It is really hard to see all these…

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Monday, May 19 201405/19/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Monday, May 19th – Middle School (ages 10 to 12) Santiago Chile, 600 kids

It takes a lot of work to effectively reach this many kids at the same time and keep their attention focused on what you are saying. You have to go from making them laugh, to then really hear what you are saying. We have some really cool costumes that a company graciously donated to us. We started out by doing a choreographed locking style dance while in the costumes. Let’s just say, the crowd went wild. All in all it went great and it amazes me sometimes the things that ten and twelve year olds say. Some of them really…

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Friday, May 16 201405/16/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Friday, May 16th Women’s prison.

This was a small prison and we performed for about 100 ladies. They were so grateful to get such a huge production at their place. They danced with us in a salsa type dance that we do and had a lot of fun. We always make some good jokes about how the Latin’s are so much better at salsa than us Americans. One older womean told me she had five kids on the outside that were rarely able to come visits her. Desperate for money, she got tricked into carrying drugs across the border. She had been here five years…

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Wednesday, May 14 201405/14/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Wednesday, May 14th – Men’s Prison, Santiago, 2 patios, 300 men each.

This is the largest prison in Chile, holding over 6,000 men. The conditions are bad since they are at double capacity and the food they eat is just horrible. Some of the men were so thin and pale from not getting enough nutrition and in some places the smell is just horrible. On top of all they have to endure, some of these men are missing limbs, in wheel chairs, blind or disabled. One man in a wheel chair named Guillermo, was from the US, had a horrible car accident and now was here. Many I talked to were serving…

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Tuesday, May 13 201405/13/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Tuesday, May 13th – Largest School for the mentally and physically handicapped in Chile.

There are around 400 kids, from ages 5 to 26 with all ranges of disability such as Autism, Downs, Epilepsy, Physical handicaps, and some that have suffered abuse so sever it has caused mental damage. Wow! 400 kids with special needs is a lot to handle! They all want to be hugged and get your attention. To hear their laughter and see their amazement at the magic made me want to cry and so many wanted to dance with butterfly wings or participate in some way, there was hardly enough space. Some of them were so smart and quicker to…

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Tuesday, May 13 201405/13/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Tuesday, May 13th – Homes for the elderly, outside the Santiago city limit.

We set up our equipment and then helped push all the wheelchairs of the elderly down a ramp from upstairs to outside. It took a while to get them all together and help the nuns since they had to be moved very slowly. The nun told us that out of all the people here, only ten of them have someone that comes to visit them and they were so excited for this special attention and getting their own personal “circus”. One lady told me she had been moved from another home after the floor collapsed because it was so old….

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Monday, May 12 201405/12/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Monday, May 12th 2014 – Private Prison, Chile 300 men

At this prison all the men are waiting to receive their sentences and can be held up to five years waiting. Some might have their charges dropped, and some can receive up to life in prison. We set up in a big auditorium and set up a bunch of benches and chairs. The men had to be divided into groups because of the different gangs they came from and then each group was heavily guarded with a line of prison guards. My dad does a funny act wearing a monkey costume (that looks so real) and the prisoners just go…

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Friday, May 9 201405/09/14 No Response

Go Beyond, What We Do

Down Town Santiago city center (Most of the dates that are in between the dates accounted for, we were down town in the center).

The down town center is so busy it is unbelievable. I have not been to a city this condensed and packed, not even New York is this busy all the time. The weekend we got here there was a big miner’s convention and we were able to reach people from far out cities in Chile drawing huge crowds with our performances. The subway gets so full, people are literally shoving hard to try to fit in and sometimes you have to wait a long time for a train with a bit of space on it. When my brothers and sisters…

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