Monthly Archives: March 2018

Easter Weekend, Paraguay – March 30th

We had a beautiful night on the boardwalk here and so many families stopped to listen. I just love performing for kids! We have so many magic, clown, puppet and funny acts they love and through it all we can teach them beautiful things. For Good Friday it was special to do our act that depicts the death and resurrection of Jesus. Many people were in tears as they watched.  It is a really tragic situation here in Paraguay. The city is in extreme poverty and just a complete disaster.  Because of bad flooding in January, thousands of people lost…

Read A Little More

Tweet

Down Town Paraguay – March 27th

It’s cool to be in a Spanish speaking country again, but also super difficult to switch back after speaking Portuguese. We have to really focus!  I spent Tuesday writing letters and meeting with high officials to begin working in the prisons, schools, orphanages and down town center here. It all went pretty good and after Easter, hopefully some doors will begin to open (if not I will go back to all the same offices again…and again till they let us in:))

Tweet

Traveling to Paraguay – March 24th

 The border we crossed is known for being very difficult to cross and even dangerous and corrupt. Someone told us it was best to cross it late at night so we drove 12 hours straight to make it there and crossed late. The border was pretty deserted and it all went smooth.  The next day we drove another 7 hours to the Capital. It’s neat when you look on google maps and even though you only have 15 miles left to go, your estimated arrival time is 2 HOURS! Yeah for traffic:) 

Tweet

Two presentations Juvenile detention center – March 19th

Todays was my youngest brothers birthday, and he was blessed to share the day caring about these young men. We did two performances for two different groups and both times we really got through to the kids. The director told us that in 15 years of working there, and seeing other groups come in and talk to the kids, he had never seen anything like what we did. He said we were the first people he ever saw “speak their language”. That is why we use cool music, do a little rap, cool magic ecs, so that we can speak…

Read A Little More

Tweet

Supporting local foundation – March 19th

We meant a beautiful groups of people who are starting a foundation to help the homeless and those in need. They are a big family with others joined on and even thought they are not rich, they are doing what they can to start to make a difference. The father, has been battling cancer for 8 years and it is heartbreaking to talk to his wife of 48 years tell me she knows he does not have much time left. His three sons are starting the foundation in his honor and are beautiful men that really love their family. We…

Read A Little More

Tweet

Largest Prison in Brazil – March 16th

This was one of the worst patios we have been in. There was trash everywhere (because they are not allowed bags or anyway to deal with trash), open sewage, and the walls were covered in mold. My heart just breaks for these guys suffering these conditions. A lot of the guys knew Capoeira and were so excited to participate! One guys said, “wow, thanks! I haven’t done that in 5 years!” Doing Capoeira brings a lot of energy into the whole crowd so everyone becomes more attentive to listen to all we share.

Tweet

Bringing food to prison – March 15th

We were able to revisit the prison I wrote about early that was on the coast, where the men did not get enough food because of corruption. The previous day my sister and I went to the local fruit market and talked to the sellers. We were able to get a bunch of fruit, potatoes, watermelons and beans donated to add to the food we were bringing. The prisoners were so grateful we remembered and came all the way back with more food. We did two performances here again, and reached a lot of guys.

Tweet

Home for the elderly – March 14th

We had a beautiful time visiting and performing at a large home for the elderly. It was so cool to see these beautiful, but sad people, slowly warm to us and then accept us like family. The director of activities was a 17 years old girl! She was mature well beyond her years and really cared about the people she worked with. Her mom had died when she was 11, her dad just left and her grandparents were raising her. Seeing the kindness of her grandparents, gave her the desire to work with older folks and choose to lay down…

Read A Little More

Tweet

Two more sections in Juvenile detention center – March 13th

Tweet

Regional Prison, Southern Brazil, – March 12th

My crazy brother really made the prisoners laugh when he climbed up this pole to get away from the angry “dog” that was chasing him in a clown routine:) There were about 250 guys all spread out along the wall, all of them were really engaged and listening to all we shared. I felt so bad for this older man who had lost one of his legs in a hit and run accident years ago. Imagine dealing with the hell of prison with one leg! We do a traditional Brazilian dance called a, “Gaucho dance”. It is a song and…

Read A Little More

Tweet

State Prison, Southern Brazil – March 12th

I share with you a letter we just got that one of the men from inside this prison dictated to a worker to send us. He wrote it in his attempted English:) :  “This date will surely be remembered in my memory and in my heart. the day that a group of Americans who might even call them angels, have arranged to come to a penitentiary, where much of society wants to stay away, to give their personal testimony, to present themselves theatrically and to demonstrate knowledge of the culture of our state. I wanted to thank everyone without exception….

Read A Little More

Tweet

Down Town Center – March 9th

We were down town in the center for a looooonnnggggg time last night:) It was super exhausting but really blessed. We reached so many people that were crossing through the plaza on their way to the bus stop. When they heard our music they stopped in the crowd, and many of them ended up staying the whole time! My sister does a really classy ballet dance that stops people in their tracks:) My brothers do this act where they use a net and a really cool costume they made, to communicate that we each have a free will. Our free…

Read A Little More

Tweet

Center for at risk youth, 2nd presentation – March 8th

Spent a day doing multiply presentations at a center for at risk kids. We made a color flyer with a cool car on it and use the example of a car, to teach them how they have to start their mind (think), shift into gear (make right choices) and drive their life (short version of a detailed and helpful example). No one can drive our “car” (life) for us, if we are distracted by peer pressure and all the voices of the world, we can “crash”,. We communicate these ideas through a theatrical act, and large colored posters as well….

Read A Little More

Tweet

Center for at risk youth, 1st presentation – March 8th

Spent a day doing multiply presentations at a center for at risk kids. Many of the kids have come from broken families, had no parents or been through a tragedy. A certain section is a detention center that holds teens who have committed crimes. We were able to reach a lot of really beautiful young people and give them some real direction. They were quick to ask questions and participate. It was like they were just starving for love and attention. All the teachers and director were extremely grateful and asked us to return and perform for all the sections…

Read A Little More

Tweet

Prison in mountainous area in Southern Brazil – March 6th

We drove three hours away up into a mountainous area. It was a long drive down a narrow windy road and we came in and out of of and rain. We finally found the prison which was buried behind a small town. The workers were expecting us and very glad to see us. The temperature at this higher elevation was a bit cooler so that was really nice for a change:) The men were very sad and it took some work to enter their world and get them to trust us and let us in. But we were able to…

Read A Little More

Tweet

City Center Plaza – March 2nd

We try to make it to this plaza once a week, and many people come out to look for us. It is so busy here and at times our crowd gets really large, full of people from all walks of life. I do a magic routine with my brother (who wears a cirque do solid type mask) where I make an invisible “seed” turn into flowers. We go up to random people in the crowd and make them put a “seed” in my bag then I turn it into a flower:) Seeds are those things which can seem so insignificant,…

Read A Little More

Tweet