Lullabies Behind Bars

by Beth Schwartzapfel, from Ms.
Utne Reader
March-April 2009

In a few innovative prisons, babies find a safe haven with their moms...

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Early Childhood and After School Appropriations Update

National Women's Law Center
August 2009

The Senate expects to take its bill to the floor in September. (The 2009 federal fiscal year runs out on September 30.) Some programs did not receive increases of significant increases compared to current levels because they were included in the ARRA (stimulus) legislation that covers fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

Highlights of the bills include:

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Clowns spark laughter among children living in distressed regions

by Carmel Wroth
August 2009 issue
Ode Magazine

The word "clown" has gotten a bad rap, according to Moshe Cohen, founder of the U.S. branch of Clowns Without Borders. The group sends volunteers to entertain children in post-conflict zones and other distressed regions. "Clowning is not just something that's funny," Cohen says, "but anything that's uplifting or brings warmth." Clowns Without Borders, which has branch organizations in nine countries, tries to improve the psychological health of people living through traumatic circumstances such as wars and natural disasters. "It's about releasing psychic tension through laughter," says Cohen.

Tortell Poltrona founded the organization in Barcelona in 1993. The group's first performance–in a refugee camp in the former Yugoslavia–drew an audience of nearly 700 children. Today, the organizations have collectively gone on some 300 expeditions and performed for over 1 million children. Though shows are primarily for children, Cohen says adults in a camp or village often come, too. "There's an incredible sense of wonder of a whole community laughing together," he says...

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