There are moments that really come to my heart, because working with unaccompanied children it is very difficult. When looking at them I would think: “They are not minors, they are men. What can I do with them? How can I help them? These people have crossed borders and travelled all alone, they are men, not children.”
I kept asking myself what I could do to connect with them and suddenly we did something small and they laughed and we said: “YES! YES! Let’s go Tina! Let’s go Mario! We can do it!”

In these special moments, we felt as if they were going back to childhood. This is what I think they needed and what we created together. Yes, they live in a dangerous situation trying to cross the border to reach Europe and they might look like grown-ups but they are children in need of love. They need to have a moment of love and a good laugh. Love and laugh. That’s what we all need!

For me it is easy to connect with their stories and feel them, because as a Palestinian I heard the stories from my grandparents and I know this could happen again, I could be in their shoes.
We, clowns, cannot cancel war but we cannot stop creating love around us and make people laugh… no matter where we are.

I remember my first mission in Ukraine in 2016. Our team started working in a shelter for domestic refugees (Internally Displaced People) from the east of the country, where the armed conflict had been going on for a year. It was a very diverse group: children without parents, single-parent families and people who were left alone.

We worked with a group of children, their parents and other adults who were interested. Together we had our Circus Smile format and for the final show, we created a story about a group of children who got lost and was looking for the way home. Some played the violin; others showed magic tricks or created simple scenography with what was available.

Together we created a simple but powerful story about life on the road. How to overcome hardships and how to find a way together to a new home. A woman then told us that thanks to us she had started laughing again after a year and this opened up new hope for her.

On more and more missions, I realized that people were losing their security without warning and felt like drowning. We, the clowns, offer them our clownish island of hope, the joy from which they can see other horizons.

We lived and worked all week with people who had lost everything, but I still had the impression that I was the one leaving with a gift that this people had unknowingly given me.

One situation, especially dear to me, happened during the vaccination of a little girl a couple of years back in the refugee camp in Lesbos.
As I was waving goodbye to a small boy that I have spent some time with while he was being vaccinated, I turned around and I saw a frightened ten-year-old girl standing at the entrance of the tent. I immediately went to her and welcomed her in, but she was too afraid to enter so we started playing around in the entrance.
Once the doctor called: “Next!” she got scared again. I told her “I am with you. I will be with you the whole time! Let's get vaccinated together!” and she nodded. While the doctor was preparing to give her the shot, she got scared all over again so I came closer to her face and gently pressed my red nose to her nose. Suddenly she began to laugh hard. We were looking into each other’s eyes and we were both laughing. It was wonderful!
While she was laughing, the doctor gave her the vaccine. The girl didn’t even notice it!
The doctor looked at her and said, “we just vaccinated you with laughter!”

This was a powerful and important moment. I really felt like I successfully distracted her from the “scary” needle and eased the doctor's work. The girl left this vaccination smiling and maybe even with a pleasant memory. I only distracted her, but in order to really distract a child, you have to establish a connection from the very beginning, and have fun together.

For the children in the Sedra camp, the lockdown and isolation was very difficult to handle, so the clown online sessions are something that really brings joy and brings childhood back to children. Even when it is over, you can see many children smiling and walking around the camp with the red noses on.
After every session, the children are asking when will they see the clowns again; they are really looking forward to having the sessions with RED NOSES.
The positive impact goes beyond the sessions, afterwards they are very cheerful it reflects on other activities they do… it really brings a lot of smiles in the camp.

Your assistance is an invaluable contribution to the development of psychosocial activities by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and certainly a tangible support in the dissemination of information about methods and forms of psychosocial support. Thanks to the received good expertise, the URCS will be able to achieve great results in improving the welfare of the beneficiaries affected by the crisis.

I can see that RED NOSES Clowns are working very professionally, bringing a positive feeling to the clinic and working in perfect connection with the medical staff. Thanks to their presence, we had no big dramas in the tents. It was a huge help!

I saw RED NOSES during a MSF children's vaccination campaign in Moria Camp, Lesbos. They worked very attentively and consciously and they had a very good understanding of the situation and sensitivity towards the children. That was very pleasant and helpful for the work of the doctors.

The clowns from Red Noses International brought laughter to patients and MSF staff alike. The value of this kind of visit for people’s wellbeing can’t be underestimated.