In July of 1993, more than 700 children at a refugee camp in Croatia awaited Tortell Poltrona, a professional clown. Seeing the joy he brought to these children inspired him to create the non-profit organization, “Clowns Without Borders.”
Clowns Without Borders was created to help communities that have suffered through all forms of trauma by way of humor. It quickly expanded from Croatia to the rest of the ex-Yugoslavia region and later, France and Sweden. By 2000, over one hundred expeditions had been launched.
As the number of shows expanded, more people became intrigued with this idea and joined Poltrona on his mission to spread joy. As of today, Clowns Without Borders operates in twelve countries. They value building strong relationships with the communities, refugee camps, and the shelters where they perform.
The organization has about 20 dedicated performers and has regular volunteers that perform as well. In 2014, 34 volunteers contributed a total of 271 days and 125 performances in five countries.
Since its launch, the organization went from only being able to raise a few hundred dollars to having a budget of $146,000 in 2014. The current budget derives mostly from grants and donations. Approximately 81 percent of the budget is used for field programs, airfare, in-country travel, lodging, meals, and health coverage for the volunteer clowns.
The next project that Clowns Without Borders is planning will be taking place in Lesvos, Greece from February 1 to February 12. This will be the second time that the team has traveled and perform to Greece.
“This is perfect. This is exactly what we need,” said Stavros Myrogiannis, Director of Karatepe Refugee Camp, after Clowns Without Borders USA’s first performance. It took place in the overcrowded refugee camp where thousands of Syrian refugees were hosted.
Three clowns travel to perform for as many as 3,000 refugees and migrants per day.
“The programs will focus on drama as therapy, songs, shows with acrobatic tricks and humor, and will be suitable to all ages, children and adults alike,” said Tamara Palmer in a press release on the group’s website.
According to Clowns Without Border’s website “with the support of many volunteers and the hardworking board, the organization continues to strive to bring laughter and humor to children and persons in areas of crisis”.