Laughter through tears: Altruistic clowns try to bring smiles to suffering refugees on Lesbos
- More than 800,000 refugees from the Middle East and Africa arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2015.
- Thousands have died crossing the Mediterranean in overcrowded inflatable dinghies.
- Arriving refugees face many obstacles including finding shelter, obtaining proper papers, and travelling on to the country where they want to claim asylum.
- A group called ‘Clowns without Borders’ has come to Lesbos to lend moral support to them.
- The volunteers literally clown around with the migrants to take their minds off their ordeals, if only for a little while.
In 2015, more than 800,000 people fled their homes in the Middle East and Africa, and made their way to Lesbos in Greece.
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Crossing the Mediterranean in overcrowded inflatable dinghies is a perilous voyage that has killed thousands.
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In an effort to prevent even more deaths, volunteers meet refugees on the shores to provide first aid.
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Landing successfully is just the beginning of the refugees’ long journey to safety, as they still face many obstacles: finding shelter, being issued proper papers and travelling on to the country where they want to claim asylum.
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To offer moral support during the ordeal and to take their minds off all the hardship, if only for a while, ‘Clowns without Borders’ have come to the island of Lesbos.
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Volunteers from this organisation literally clown around, their sole objective, to put smiles on the faces of children and adults alike.
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They believe that laughter has powerful healing properties for both mind and soul, so they’re determined to be there when people go through traumatic events.
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Clowns without Borders have also performed at natural disaster sites and worked with people fleeing conflict.
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That determination is undiminished in the face of the current migrant crisis.
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They hope to make a difference in the lives of people going through an unbelievably challenging time.
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The altruistic clowns are not afraid of incorporating hard topics into their performances, as they seek to transform the tragedy of a traumatic experience into comedy.
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They see the ability to laugh at your own misfortune and fear as therapy to help migrants overcome their hardships.
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To find out more about how Clowns without Borders is putting a smile on the faces of suffering refugees, check out No Laughing Matter on RTD.