Graeme Frauenfelder

Send in the Clown Graeme Frauenfelder

This is my story of being a volunteer clown and visiting the Belén community, in Iquitos city in the Peruvian Amazon with Patch Adams and his team of humanitarian clowns. The team includes health workers, social workers, educators in many fields and other professionals who come to be a part of this wonderful project, and they keep coming back year after year with acts of service, compassion, practical assistance and empowerment in a variety of ways, working beside and with the people of this community. The teams listen, they learn, they care and assist. Some are involved more than just once a year. It was my privilege to go in August 2013, to be part of this beautiful and challenging work. What I learned and how I grew in this experience has been taken into all the ongoing projects of creativity, kindness and inspiration I am undertaking throughout my country and around the world. No matter where in the world I go many kids often have such open hearts, alive spirits and sparkly eyes. There is hope when I see that. Their natural selves ooze aliveness and loving so easily flows. It's important to keep that alive as they grow up and help to keep that beautiful spirit alive as they become adults.