Hidung Merah: Social Circus in the Jakarta Area

The Red Nose Foundation
Pictures below of work in Bintaro and Cilincin


I just came in from a run in which i almost choked multiples times on my own spit. Why you ask? Well as a matter of fact it is illegal to spit in Singapore. It is also illegal to sell or chew gum. It is also illegal to jaywalk- as in people are arrested for jaywalking! People are also arrested for littering! It is extremely polluted in both Indonesia and Singapore, and my lungs were coughing up some pretty gross stuff- all of which I had to swallow. What a weird place! So here I am in Singapore for the weekend. The driver of the family I have been staying with in Jakarta has a daughter with Cerebral Palsy. She had to come up to Singapore to have some braces made for her legs. They needed an escort because she can't fly alone, so I thought why the hell not? She is so sweet, shy, and beautiful. It has been fun/frustrating trying to get to know her in my more than broken Bahasa Indonesia, and her less than broken English. In Singapore I am staying with a former student of my parents who does a lot of relief work in this part of the world. It is interesting to learn more about Southeast Asia from her and her family. Thank you Linley and family!

Today I spent exploring parts of Singapore and then I observed a dance class at one of the high schools here. I also gave a juggling lesson to a couple of pretty privileged 8-10 year old boys this afternoon in an effort to raise money for Leana's braces. There are aerial classes here and beach ultimate, so I think I will have a good time. I'll be teaching and assisting in some physical theater/dance classes on Monday before I head back to Jakarta. Bring on the countries! Singapore's national language is English which I find strange. On my run I encountered my first adult playground. Pull-up bars, push-up bars, sit-up stations and more. Apparently these fitness stations are commonplace in Asia. Go Asia!

I have begun volunteering with Hidung Merah (Red Nose Foundation), a social circus program based in Jakarta. I have been 3 days so far and from what I can tell I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE EVER AGAIN. I am already in love with the kids, in love with the people of Hidung Merah, and am in love with the concept of social circus.  I got lucky in that Red Nose is short staffed right now, so I am actually needed! Soon I will rig my trapeze and get to teach a little aerial. On Mondays we go to Bintaro a southern suburb of Jakarta to a trash village to teach some English, juggling, plate spinning, and other basic circus elements. We teach in a small clearing in the middle of their houses. And by houses I mean something very similar to a small clubhouse made from tin, recycled wood, or cement. The rest of the week is spent in Cilincin (pronounced chilinchin), a northern fishing village about an hour north of Jakarta center. The kids come in between the morning and afternoon sessions of school. From Tuesday-Friday it is a mix of English lessons, tutoring in all school subjects, and circus. Then on Sundays all of the advanced children get bused to Jakarta International School to train together. The deal is, you have to be in school to come to the circus.  Dan, the inspiring clown who runs Hidung Merah has all of the kids sponsored to go to school. Unfortunately a lot of their teachers do not have degrees and it is incredibly easy to drop out, so Dan is quite accustomed to kids dropping out of the program. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it must be to pour everything into these children and have only measurable success with some. I guess you just have to hope that some of what you taught sunk in somewhere along the way... When teaching English the other day I found that the book was simply wrong in many cases. At a loss I tossed the book and tried something else...but this is their curriculum. Scary!

I actually started crying the other day. I was doing colors and shapes in English with a group of 7-12 year olds. I held up a white squiggle. The all burst out: "Eet Eeeez a awhiiieeet." Then I held up a pink heart. They sang: "Eet Eeeez a Peeenk Lahhhv." With the biggest smiles on their faces. Oh my god. That isn't a love, it is a heart, but who cares. They are amazing.

While I paint a beautiful idealistic picture let me be clear it is not. In Cilincin there are cats everywhere. They are unbelievably skinny and sleep all day. I am sure almost half of the ones I see are dead. The smell is of feces and fish. You have to walk with your mouth shut or else flies choke you. There are piles and piles of muscle shells everywhere. Everyone from children to old men sit by these piles and shuck the muscles. The houses are built very close together with 2 foot pathways in between. There is a soccer field made of crushed shells in the center of the settlement, and there is trash lining everywhere else. I am entirely unsure where they go to the bathroom. It is an unreal culture shock from beautiful Colorado where there is open space, clean air, and nature. 

What is particularly shocking to me is that as we gather kids to come to class you find that they are all clean and well dressed,. The girls have stylish haircuts and cute clothing, and they ALL have huge smiles on their faces. You would have literally no idea where they came from if you met them on the street. So it leaves me with an unsettled feeling. I am not sure whether to feel depressed when I get to Cilcincin or to feel refreshed. Obviously living conditions are so much different compared to where I have come from, but in a sense their worry at the end of the day is if they will have money enough for food. What are my worries? I HAVE SO MANY ALL THE TIME. Its a simpler life, 

Hidung Merah tries to inspire the kids to have dreams. They try to educate the children to know that there are other options besides being a fisherman, a muscle shucker, or a house mom. Although if they got an education and still wanted those things of course that would be fine! Red Nose works to teach how learning can be fun, and they try to teach values of responsibility and aspiration. But what is truly incredible is how fast these kids learn to juggle and do other circus tricks. Their faces are pure delight when juggling, and they rise to any challenge. As a new juggler myself, I can't help but be amazed at these 7-16 year old kids who effortlessly toss up the balls. I am particularly impressed and inspired when they pass rings or pass balls when juggling. Although I have found Indonesians to be friendly, the culture is not all that concerned with helping one another. Teamwork or collaboration seem foreign. So watching these kids learn how to trust and work with one another is empowering. They can pass balls even while standing on each others shoulders! They are so eager to learn and are such good hearted people. I am trying my hardest to learn Bahasa Indonesia and we'll see how far I get in the next 2 months. I originally was supposed to spend the month of November in Bali finding another adventure, but these kids have decided for me that I will spend November in Jakarta despite the smog, traffic, and lack of nature.

I did my first crossfit workout the other day with a bunch of Indonesians which was quiet an experience. INTENSE! WHOA! I played Frisbee with a group that was mixed Ex-Pats and Indonesians which was super fun minus the fact that I was coughing up half my lung from the fires that were burning near. I have yet to figure out housing or how I will eat for the next couple months, but I have a feeling it will all come together...(I hope!)

As for Indonesia...here is some of what I've learned about thus far:

-Indonesia doesn't recognize Judaism as a religion.

-It is illegal to not have a religion in Indonesia.

-Every male over the age of 12 smokes, some younger even. The youngest person I saw smoking looked like he was 5.

-Indonesian people throw their trash on the ground or into the ocean without thinking twice

-Indonesian people are the most friendly people I have encountered to date, especially in contrast to the Quebecois.

-Jakarta has the worst traffic in the world. It can take over a half hour in a car to go what I could run in less than 10 minutes.

-The language Bahasa Indonesia doesn't have a past or future tense- it is all in the present.

-if you have 50 bucks you can buy a motorcycle on credit so EVERYONE has a motorcycle

-You can pay off your boss to not go to work (in government positions!) and you can buy a high school or college degree, or even a verdict in a court case... 

-Most expats have a driver, cook/maid, at least 4 guards, and a gardener
-I love Indonesia already.

Thank you so much for all your birthday wishes! I so appreciate the support and love you are all sending me from across the world. Have a wonderful weekend!

Love from Singapore,

Sophie

Montreal-->Toronto-->Hong Kong-->Jakarta-->Kepulauan Seribu

The pictures above are from my past week in Jakarta. 


After a speedy 48 hour travel affair from Montreal to Jakarta I finally arrived about a week ago. The world is so ironic and funny sometimes. Along my journey I met people from Australia, South Africa, and Indonesia, all of which are places I will be heading this year. So I have now arrived here on the other side of the world (literally) with a multitude of other connections in the global non-profit, performing, and circus worlds that I couldn't have even dreamed up! PLUS a whole bunches of places to stay for free! Somehow I think this year is going to turn out just fine for me.

In the end I spent a bit over six weeks in Montreal. One of the most important moments of my time there being an evening I spent with Jessica Hentoff the owner and founder of Circus Harmony in St. Louis, MO, two alums of her program who now study at the National Circus School in Montreal, and Sara Deull of Zip Zap Circus in Cape Town, South Africa. We sat down in a small restaurant in the Latin Quarter. Asking questions around the table and falling into a comfortable banter, I was struck by the two men before me. Both studying at the best circus school in the world, it was interesting to figure out their stories and how they ended up here. Social Circus right before my eyes! Talking with two performers and two teachers of social circus showed me that while it is hard work and can sometimes be very discouraging, the success you can have is tremendous. I had so many enlightening and life changing experiences in Montreal, but alas it would take up so many pages to write it all for you. Just know that I had a blast and am better prepared for the remainder of my year because of it. The last Montreal tidbit I will include is this: Thanks to Zoe Daniels (with Sophie and Lucy), Joe Wood, Bobby Lee & Hard Ultimate, and Andrew Louchuck for being kind, supportive, and allowing me the opportunity to not be homeless! 

Aside from being completely and totally wrecked from jet lag and culture shock my adjustment to life here in Southeast Asia has been smooth. Riiiiight...A couple days after I got to Jakarta, and while still struggling with the time change I accompanied 7 women on a trip to the Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands.) It is the beginning of the rainy season here and the streets in Jakarta were completely flooded out. There is bumper to bumper traffic pretty much everywhere and at all times in Jakarta. Even with the roads under water there were still hundreds of motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars with up to 5 or 6 people on one bike! Sometimes even babies! 

We pulled up to the dock to hop on a ferry and saw mountains of trash everywhere and booth after booth of locals selling every sort of fish you could think of. It smelled of shit and fish mixed together with compost. The ferry we took was a local one packed to over double capacity and was probably only about 40 ft long. I sat on the roof the entire ride taking in the scenery of the fishing pier. We left the dock and the first thing I noticed was that the Indonesians on the boat were throwing their trash out the window. Looking down into the water I saw that it was a deathly shade of brown, saturated with waterlogged trash and oil sludge. With so much pollution in the air and the water alike, I looked out onto the horizon and literally couldn't tell where the grey water ended and the grey sky began. It took a full hour of our ride to pass the line of trash and get to the beautiful turquoise water that the islands are so famous for. And in the grimy waters we passed many a fishing boat. I may not eat fish for my entire time in Indonesia it was so nauseating. As cigarette after cigarette were thrown into the water I looked ahead to the Islands appearing before us. Docking about 2 hrs off shore from Jakarta on Pramuka Island we set off to snorkel for the day. Some of you might know that I am terrified of snorkeling. It is something about the silence and listening to my own breathing that freaks me out. Well you'll be happy to know that I DID IT! I snorkeled all day. The coral was an expansive, spectacular, and intricate underwater landscape. The fish were beautiful shades of purple and red. It was breathtaking especially in light of the disgusting water conditions only about an hour away. It has been a great but shocking start over here in Southeast Asia for me.

I start volunteering with a social circus foundation here in a couple of days and will keep you posted about that. My quest for all 3 splits,  juggling, the scorpion, and handstands are well on their way. I am lonely some, but have been finding great people to connect with along my way. I hope you are all well! I love you all!

Sophie