Clowning Inclusively
The NGO I am working with is Clowns Without Borders, an internationally recognized organization that uses its outreach with the aim of bringing joy and laughter to individuals living in crisis situations. The population CWB typically serves are children and adolescents from all over the world. The article I read is related to children with disabilities living in refugee settings. Given that children in refugee camps are already navigating so many complex challenges, displacement, separation, unfamiliarity, to name a few, I wondered if children with disabilities in these settings had any additional barriers that we should be aware of when thinking about how to best provide support. The article mentions that “refugee children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to exclusion from school environments as well as social settings” (Crea et al., 2022).
Given that our NGO works to create a social space in which individuals can enjoy themselves, it is important to be aware of barriers to social inclusion that could be perpetuated unknowingly and unintentionally.
Performers from CWB interact with groups as large as 2,000 individuals per performance, and engaging all of these people within the same performance is already a feat in and of itself. The following quote is information I think our group could implement in our performer training that would be useful for the artists to know before performing. “Children who are refugees are reported to have disabilities in mobility (7%), cognition (5%), vision (1%), but most commonly anxiety (22%) and controlling behaviors (10%)” (Crea et al., 2022). What stuck out to me from this quote firstly, was the percentage of controlling behaviors. Naomi, the executive director of CWB, had mentioned that sometimes children observing the performance can interact with the performers in ways that are distracting, or occasionally unexpected. Given the above statistic, I wonder if these instances are children trying to connect in a different way than what is normally anticipated, and how we might address that. Also wanted to touch on the percentage of children in refugee settings who experience anxiety (22%), and how that might manifest during viewing a performance, especially if certain bits are designed to be fun and surprising, it might have an impact other than what is intended. I am sure many children react positively with the performances as is, and enjoy the space for fun and creativity, I just want to ensure that the space we are aiming to create is an inclusive environment, which means taking into account situational factors, environmental factors, and how they may impact any given child at any point. This is not to assume all children in these settings are experiencing the previously mentioned conditions, but to be aware that it is likely some of the children are, and they should be included in the development of performances. Naomi works to make sure CWB runs as an inclusive space for all children, all individuals, globally. I think this is another way we can work to prioritize the population we are working with in the conception of the performances.
Cite to article:
