Circus2Iraq


Given the ongoing security situation in Iraq , the Circus has decided to work where it can in the meantime , the Tsunami struck areas have become the unfortunate natural choice. And to change it's name to Boomchucka Circus/Circus 2 Iraq/Circus 2 Asia.
Devilstick Peat a core member of C2I is also involved with Children's World International and is currently on a recce tour of Sri Lanka with Arabella Churchill (director of CWI) , with a main tour planned to start in Sept 2005.
Although this is a CWI project , Boomchucka Circus is a willing supporter , hopefully C2I menbers will go on the main tour and also we have decided to use a third of the current C2I funds to support the tour (two thirds of the funds will be kept back for a future tour of Iraq and school projects when it is safer to return there)
Also we will start a new fundraising venture to raise money for circus equipment to leave with children and groups in Asia and hopefully if there is enough money ; to help out with replacing fishing boats destroyed by the Tsunami.
We hope that you all agree that this is currently the best way forward for the Boomchucka Circus ,please let us know your thoughts via our emails or the guestbook.

Much Love and thanks to all our friends and supporters,
Sheila X and all at Boomchucka Circus.

PS Please keep in touch with life in Iraq using our links , may the future there become brighter and soon.




I HAVE A DREAM

(AN UPDATE AND THANK YOU LETTER FROM DEVILSTICK PEAT)

It was the summer of 2004. I'd been back from Iraq for maybe 5 months, and still found the peace, law and order of the u.k. strange. And, if the truth be known, not for me. I was in Exeter, on route to the "beautiful days" festival where I was booked to site crew and perform in the children's area. I'd finished busking and found an Internet cafe where I could check out my
emails. And thats when she mailed me. We'd met in Iraq where she was working for a well respected children's charity and she'd seen at first hand just how much good, laughter and play can achieve, not just with children, but also for their parents. And she'd listened with true interest as I'd told her about my ambition to see a full time tour by clowns etc. Their mission, to go where kids don't laugh or play and make dammed sure they do.

After the "how are you's" and other politeness's she got down to business. She agreed with me about how much the children of the world need a full time CIRCUS 2 IRAQ type tour. Then she told me that the charity she works for has a new C.E.O, (Thats posh talk for boss) who will be visiting her soon. Then she asked me to look into the cost, problems etc of setting up my dream
project. She couldn't promise anything, but she'd do her best to convince him that the job needed doing, and that I was the man for the job.

A rush of adrenaline filled my body. Ever since I went to Kosova back in 1999, I'd wanted this. Now, for the first time ever, I had a shot at it. I worked on the project, looking at where her charity worked, costing and risk assementing the project. checking out monsoon seasons, religious holidays and other considerations etc. Then mailed her what I could and waited, and
waited.

Eventually her boss arrived and she put the idea to him but alas, it failed to float his boat. He liked it, but cost cutting and prioritising etc meant that they just couldn't afford it. I was gutted. It was like being kicked in the gut by a set of size 12's. Like finding out I've ticked the wrong box and voted for bush instead of an honest man. In fact I was so gutted that latter that year. Whilst sitting in the court yard of my friends house in south of France (as you do). I told her about the work I'd put into it and how upset we both were that the charity couldn't afford it.


Luckily for me, the friend I was talking to was Arabella Churchill, founder and director of CHILDREN'S WORLD INTERNATIONAL, the charity that had first got me into this kind of work. She listened to my idea, asked me questions about money, people, aims etc and finished up by saying "So lets do it under the name of CHILDREN'S WORLD INTERNATIONAL"!!!

I know Bella well enough to know that when she says she will do something, it WILL be done. And so, for the next few months we worked on the idea with a view to the first tour being based in Africa, working with children affected by HIV/AIDS and/or war etc.

Then, on 26/12/04 the tsunami hit Asia. As the days passed and the true horror became more apparent, so we both decided that this is where we want the project to start. And so we started to make contacts with charities etc on the ground. One of these contacts runs a children's charity in Sri Lanka and suggested that Bella and I go out for an advance recce tour on 05/03/05.
This makes lots of sense as not only will we be better equipped but the charities we will work with will also have a better idea of what to expect.
But did bring up one large problem.

Money

We were busy fund raising for a 4 month September-December tour, now we suddenly needed money for this coming Saturday. Amongst the friends, contacts, family etc that I wrote begging letters to was CIRCUS 2 IRAQ.

When we first realised that we couldn't return to Iraq in the near future we said that, unless there was any opposition, we might use some of the CIRCUS 2 IRAQ funds for other child based projects. (please note that money donated for the school project etc will only be used on those projects). CIRCUS 2 IRAQ were brilliant (and I ain't just saying that because I'm one of them).
Within a few days the other members had said 3 things

A) "we're sending CWI a cheque for £1,000 and $200 to go towards Peat's
flight and living cost".

B) " As a member of CIRCUS 2 IRAQ Peat can put regular updates on his work
on the CIRCUS 2 IRAQ web site"

c) "Can we join in the main tour"?

Play and laughter is important to the mental and social development of children. So important that it's even enshrined in the UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD. As signed by 192 countries (the only two countries who haven't signed it are Somalia, who, after several years, have only just got a government, and the U.S.A. who's soldiers I have personally seen target homeless street kids in Baghdad).

In post genocide Kosova I saw whole villages of children with dead, lifeless eyes. In Iraq I met children who hadn't smiled in over a year. We cant just give children rights, we also have to enforce them, not just in the courts, not just in the home and playground, but also in the hearts of both, the adults and, most importantly of all, +THE CHILDREN+. And I just wanted you all to know how much effort my friends in CIRCUS 2 IRAQ are putting into helping me achieve that, not just in Iraq, but anywhere that they feel happiness is a luxury instead of a right, and how thankful I am for their financial and moral support

So to all at CIRCUS 2 IRAQ, and all those who have helped fund us or sent us messages of support, I'd just like to give a large, heart felt

thank you



Article 31 0f the united nations convention on the rights of the child
states that
1. States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to
engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the
child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to
participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the
provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic,
recreational and leisure activity.

Yours

D.S. Peat

www.childrensworldcharity.org/tsunami_tour.php

go on, check it out. I DARE YOU





PEAT'S FIRST REPORT FORM SRI LANKA.....20/03/05

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Thursday I had a nights sleep.

Friday, by the time I reached my brothers it wasn't worth sleeping, so I didn't.

Saturday was spent on planes, dozing when I could.

Sunday, 8 a.m. local time, after 22 hours of flights and waiting lounges, we finally arrive in Sri Lanka and walk out of a plane and into 95% humidity (literally). I've been in hippy mud-hut sauna's that were cooler and drier than this place. Mohan (our main man on the ground) knows the owner of a car hire firm and had arranged transport for us. So I walked off of the plane and sweated off 2 stone in weight but that's ok cause I'm getting straight into a nice air conditioned car............... I wish.

I came through customs looking for a driver holding a sign saying "Arabella Churchill" and sure enough there he was, along with his boss, two porters, and a photographer. The boss hung flower garlands around our necks as the photographer went click, click, click, flash, flash, flash, as workers, locals, fellow travellers and airport police looked on thinking so who's the dirty little hippy and why are they honouring him. I've never been garlanded before, so for me it was quite a novel experience.

Press done we jumped into the car and headed off to meet Mohan who we'd communicated with but never met yet, so it was good to finally put a face to a name. At his place we had a quick strong coffee to keep us awake, loaded up the van, and headed off south, along the coastal road to NARIGAMA.

Columbo wasn't as badly hit as other places. Also, being a capital city lots of aid and money has gone into getting it up and running, but as we headed south so we came across places where nothing survived. How do I describe it. All my experiences so far have been based on war and conflict. Man made, avoidable disasters. In that situation I don't get sad, I get angry. Then I
channel that anger to make myself do something. But this wasn't man made, this wasn't avoidable. This was the true awesome power of nature at it's worst.

In Iraq I was fascinated by what bombings left behind. Pillars holding up nothing, stairs that lead to nowhere. But here, in the places that were badly hit, the devastation is total, 100%, complete. Sometimes when I've worked on building sites, the only evidence of where a building will be is the square concrete slab that will be the floor, and as we headed south in the hot mid-day sun, so we saw similar slabs. It took a while to dawn on me that these weren't new houses being built, but the only remains of the old ones. Bricks, mortar, cement, everything, literally
everything else had been washed away, like shampoo down the drain. Man in his infinite wisdom has spent thousands of years and millions of billions of pounds on the art of destruction. All of which is put to shame by one simple, terrible act of nature.

In amongst the devastation are tents. Lots of tents, hundreds upon hundreds of them, all donated by N.G.O.'s and well-wishers the world over. The effect is a bit like a cavernous council estate. 10 streets on identical white "A" frame tents from the red cross here, followed by 10 streets of blue tube tents from Oxfam. Banners, strung between palm trees proudly proclaim the names of the donating charities. Some, like the red cross are large, well known N.G.O.'s others are less famous or set up specially for this disaster. I had to giggle at the name of one Swedish group who had called themselves "SWE-LANKA" bet who ever thought that name up is really proud of it.

At one point we passed the mangled wreckage of what was a train. The tsunami had picked it up and carried it along before tossing it and its now dead passengers aside like a child with a discarded toy. And that's another thing I hadn't really understood. It wasn't just the sea that killed and destroyed, but also the trees, buses, trains etc. that were pulled along with it. To clean paint off of a wall you blast it with water and grains of sand. Increase the size of the wall to the size of a country. Increase the size of the grains of sand to the size of cars, buses, furniture etc. and you get a idea of what happened here.

After an hour or twos drive along the coast we turned left and headed inland towards a Buddhist monastery. They were opening a computer school there and Mohan had acquired some second hand computers for them. As we drive down the winding country road, the gathering storm clouds burst open and our journey is slowed down by driving rain. As the water runs down the road Bella and I
are both struck by the same thought, "How will thousands and thousands of tented people survive the monsoon, and how many won't?"

As part of the site crew for theatre and circus area of Glastonbury festival I live in fear of the rain and the way it turns the place into a giant quagmire, but I can laugh at it because it's only for a few weeks. But here, where the monsoon last for between 3 and 5 months... What people
survive and how long they can endure things is directly linked to their moral. Another reason why our work is so important. we have no pretensions about being "first aid" but we're definitely 2nd or 3rd.

The flash storm delayed the arrival of others involved in the computer centre, so for an hour or so Bella and I tried our best to be civil, smile, and not snore to loudly as we slipped in and out of jet lagged exhaustion. But eventually every one was there and the opening ceremony could proceed. Mohan was asked to cut the ribbon that bared the door as the monks chanted. The room contained 6 computers and a 4 foot high oil lamp with 6 wicks. We were each asked to light 2 each. The first one I tried to light seemed to take ages to catch but eventually it caught light (much to my relief). Then we were each asked to turn on a computer while the monks again chanted. It felt very surreal, a group of robed Buddhist monks chanting over computers. This and the dream-like feeling of exhaustion and jetlag made me wonder if maybe I was dreaming. After opening the computer centre we all went to the temple where speeches were made for an hour or so. I'm quite proud of the fact that I only fell asleep twice during the speeches, and didn't snore too loudly.

After the ceremonies were completed we said our good byes and headed off back to the coast road for another hours drive to NARIGAMA, a coastal town where Nick (?) runs a hotel. He had 41 guests when the tsunami struck, including 21 children, luckily they all survived. He's a good man and well organised. he, together with the guests who were there on Boxing Day have raised over £30,000 and got small N.G.O.'s interested in working in the area. When we arrived the other guests were all N.G.O.'s and his assistant (a young lady called M.C.) was doing a marvellous job of organising meetings etc. for the different groups. I know from experience in both crisis zones and the hotel trade just how stressful looking after these people can be and was truly impressed by her attitude and professionalism.

That night I laid in bed thinking about the day and the sights we'd seen on the journey, for about 3 seconds. Then I fell into a deep, deep sleep. One which nothing, absolutely nothing was going to interrupt.

FACTS
All is going well. It really was such a good idea to come and recce first. We'd made some good contacts already, including a like minded charity. I really can't tell you all how grateful I am to CIRCUS 2 IRAQ (who are slowly changing to BOOMCHUCKA CIRCUS) for their moral and financial support (£1,000 + $200). It really did make the difference over wether or not I could come here.

D.S. Peat
www.childrensworldcharity.org/tsunami_tour.php




 jo@circus2iraq.org
 devilstickpeat@circus2iraq.org
 fisheye@circus2iraq.org
 luis@circus2iraq.org
 amber@circus2iraq.org
 sheila@circus2iraq.org
 scott@circus2iraq.org (website stuff)