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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