Residencial Santa Cruz. A home in Cordoba for girls with special needs.

The patio and one of the girls´rooms.

While in Cordoba, we visited a home for girls with special needs in the Alta Cordoba neighborhood. We were inspired by the playfulness and enthusiasm shown by these teenagers. All of the girls currently living in the house are between 11 and 17 and were welcoming of the two funny dressed ex-pats that showed up to surprise them. I can´t call it an orphanage exactly, because many of the girls living in the home have relatives that, for one reason or another, don´t visit often. In many cases the family doesn´t have the capacity or means to care for a daughter with different abilities, though in some cases girls are moved out of their homes by the local municipality due to unsafe circumstances.

The ladies of Residencial Santa Cruz and the clowns.

Our show is juggling and physical theatre based, which means that it was written to appeal to all ages. Even so we usually cater mostly to younger children or mixed age groups. Very rarely do we perform for an adolescent/teen only group, which means that these girls had an important lesson to teach us. Have you ever thought about going to volunteer (at home or abroad)? What age group or population is it your initial impulse to work with? I find that for most people, myself included, the first thing we search for are children´s orphanages. Why? Because they are playful, living through hard circumstances, easy to connect with, and deserve a lot of love. Exactly what we found when visiting these young ladies.

After we finished our show and juggling workshop, the ladies invited us to take and seat and be their audience. As it turns out, all of the girls are involved in local art workshops and enjoy performing. On Saturday afternoons at the home, they learn folkloric dances to be performed around town at local schools and community events. Of course, just as we do, they decided to end with a workshop in which both Tyler and I danced the traditional partner dance, Chacarera.


 Last week I wrote about our scavenger hunt to find a place to perform for local children in Cordoba, Argentina. Revisit that story here. That hunt led us directly to Residencial Santa Cruz. When asked about donations, the caretakers enthusiastically explained that they are happy to take donations of any kind- including second hand clothes for the girls. They are also excited about the possibility of workshops and activities the girls can participate in. The grounds are spartan and the building is a bit ashamble, because the funding that comes from the government does not seem to be quite enough. I imagine someone interested in helping them set up a garden project would serve them well.

If you are interested in volunteering with these wonderful ladies, you can contact them by telephone at (011.54) 351.434.6072.

An Innovative Toymaker in Cordoba, Argentina.

One of my favorite things about travelling the world with Circus of Smiles is the inspiring people we meet along the way. Last night we met a first class innovator at an outdoor crafts market in Cordoba.

Cork Action Figures, CD Storybooks, Soda Bottle ¨Ball and Cups¨

Javier, originally from Colombia, makes toys out of the recyclables he finds around town. He also leads sustainable crafts workshops for parents and teachers. This, of course, made me wish we weren´t leaving Cordoba that very same night... but at least it leaves us one more thing to look forward to for our next visit.  Tyler decided he had to buy out the entire stock of finger puppets (made of soda bottle tops, yarn, binder coil, and paint.) We were extra impressed by how they came wrapped and ready for travel, in a little house made from two small water bottles cut in half.

 

Javier´s company can be found on Facebook, as Paz Verde Juguetes Sustentables. I am currently waiting for him to accept my friend request, because he says there are plenty of photos and ideas posted there. As many of you know, I work for a company that places high value on using recyclables within the classroom as well as on creating innovators that envision and create a better future. Naturally, I find his work very exciting, and look forward to trying out some of his projects back at home! I hope these pictures give you a bit of inspiration to try something different today.

A children´s story about unconditional
 love, writen on a recycled CD book. 

A soccer game with a marble for a ball and popsicle sticks for players.

Cork action figures with moveable parts- and a great paint job

¨Gangnam Style¨ at the SOS Children´s Village

Unless you´ve been living under a rock, as I apparently was until arriving in South America, by now you have heard of the K-pop sensation ¨Gangnam Style.¨ Most notable for its catchy tune, being the most played YouTube video of all time, and the fact that it marks the first time a Korean pop artist has been able to break into the mainstream US (and broad international) market. I was introduced to the song in Buenos Aires over lunch with two friends visiting from Korea; I have not been able to get away from it since. But let´s be honest, I really don´t mind.

QuadraNose Clown

In my last post, I mentioned that we finally made it out to the SOS Children´s Village Cordoba. There are 30 youth living in the children´s village, about 10 of which are teenagers. We had a great time clowning at their party to celebrate the International Day of Children´s Rights! It is quite possible that this one will stay one of my favorite moments of the tour. We did our regular shtick, the 30-minute audience participation show followed by a juggling playshop with the neon scarves- and of course the distribution of red noses. After that, the kids and the junk food took over, but we were happy to follow their lead. A few of the older girls took on the roll of dj, and seemed to have an affinity for the Gangnam Style song -- they played it SIX times in a row.

And oh, how we danced!

Gangnam Style Dance from Paula Heather on Vimeo.