They had a really cool Catholic festival in a small town near here. Everyone comes out and arranges colored rice to make these amazing murals on the streets. They are real works of art! This was a great opportunity to reach a lot of peoples and families from the surrounding favelas who came down to enjoy a free event.
After we crossed into Brazil, a nationwide truckers strike started. All the gas stations ran out of fuel and when there was a gas station with fuel left, the lines were insane! We use diesel and found enough stations that were not out, plus we got some extra tanks and loaded up before we hit the stretches in the middle of no where. Stores ran out of food, fast food restaurants like McDonald’s closed (serious tragedy 🙁 )and a lot of cities had no public transportation or trash service the strike caused serious problems. For about three weeks you couldn’t…
It was a long trip back to Brazil but every long drive is an adventure and fun in our family. We pass the time talking, listening to music, planning new acts and performances, and those of us not driving work on making bracelets that we can give to the people we touch. We can get thread and little charms pretty cheap, much less expensive than buying bracelets already made. But I will tell you it takes a long time to make 500 which are then gone after one performance 🙂
We were able to return again to this prison since it was not far out of the way as we traveled to the Brazilian border. The guards, staff and prisoners were so happy to see us and so grateful we came back. The director here is a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and since my brothers and sisters and I are all second degree black belts, it was cool to do our Tae Kwon Do choreography that communicates the idea of not giving up the fight. We use it to show the discipline and focus that is…
It was a long journey to get here. One lane, narrow winding road the whole way. A storm was moving in so we were on the clock. By the time we arrived we knew the rain was near and were afraid we would have to cancel. We were so glad to find that they the director decided to allow us to use a covered area in the interior of the prison which they usually do not allow. Just as we were unloading everything, the storm arrived and it poured on the tin roof. I thank God it worked out to…
It was a challenge to keep all the kids under control, sitting still and listening. They all brought their chairs out of their class rooms and arranged them in the court yard to watch us. These kids live in the poorest area of Asuncion, Paraguay. Most have no fathers and even the little ones have to work or beg to eat. It is really sad. At stop lights you see small children, trying to do cart wheels or juggle, or stand on their hands to try to beg money off the traffic. Mostly they are completely ignored. The other day…
We were asked to perform for the opening of the Independence day celebration here in Asuncion, Paraguay. It was large event on a stage broadcasted on live tv, and it was an honor to participate in Paraguay’s most important day. The event was well organized and because of the quantity of performers, everyone had to be on a tight schedule. It was a very special day for my family and I, we each got to perform our act. My sister performed ballet, I did Irish step dance, by brother performed a song he wrote, we did an act with fire…
We went back to the juvenile detention center again to give the boys a very special party. For a day, we transformed a prison, into a playground and even though they are here because the are criminals of some kind, inside, like all of us, they are children. We wanted to celebrate their birthdays and bring them some fun, so we planned some games, piñatas, a magic show and got some prizes and treats for them all. We divided them up into 6 groups, one for each of my brothers and sisters and I and made up teams with each a…
This school was run by the same foundation that runs the orphanage we went to. There are 900 kids here and most of them are foster kids, orphans or have been through something traumatic. We performed for about 500 of them, which, if you know kids, is A LOT of kids:) They had fun bouncing a massive ball above them as we set up and then all set down and were very respectful and well behaved. We taught them many things to help them and comfort them in all their suffering. We wrote a children’s story about a giant frog…
Most of us weren’t feeling good this morning and we’re really tired. We thought about canceling, but there was no way we could let these kids down:) It was a smaller group but, wow, they were so precious! It just breaks your heart to see the pain and sadness in their eyes and know they have seen things and gone through things well beyond their years. At one point in our show, in the middle of a clown act where my brother is crying because he has no one to celebrate his birthday, all the kids came up to him…
This prison was about a two hour drive away, out in the country. The directer was so cool and allowed us to perform right in the main area so we were able to get the whole prison. As we started, there was some fire nearby that began to blow think smoke and ash into us. I thought we were going to have to leave but then as quickly as it started it stopped, and I thank God we could continue. Literally the entire crowd of 700 to 800 guys were so engaged and listening to everything. I do a skit…
