00:00My name is Sabine Shouker, I'm from Lebanon, and I'm a clown.
00:11I grew up in the civil war in Lebanon,
00:15so I've spent some years, the first years of my life,
00:18underground or, you know, in a war zone.
00:24And now I think, wow, I wish when I was a kid I had a clown coming.
00:28I feel like if I don't go to the places that are hard to reach
00:34and that need some clowning and some fun,
00:38then why am I doing what I'm doing?
00:53For us, this is what's important.
00:55It's important to go there,
00:56to be with those who really need us to be with them,
01:00because they can't come, so we go.
01:04I come from Lebanon, Syria is a neighbouring country,
01:07and the first thing I thought about doing is just going
01:13and offering some laughter and relief to the Syrian refugees.
01:17We're all refugees, wherever we go.
01:19It's just, this is the biggest crisis that's happening in the world.
01:26When we arrive to a place, us, you know, dressed as clowns,
01:30we have our red noses, we have our flowers and costumes,
01:34and then they see us and the kids.
01:36There's an instant change of attitude.
01:46We perform for refugees, but we also go on the streets
01:50and we do something that we call clown attacks.
01:53So we attack the streets as clowns to tackle issues like the environment,
01:59the garbage crisis that we have here,
02:03the plastic use that's all over the world,
02:07messages about, you know, child rights and education
02:11and the importance of education,
02:13but all in a context of playfulness and games and performance.
02:20We basically really play with people and share honest moments
02:25and connections that we miss in our lives,
02:29and not just in camps, but, you know, all over the world.
02:34We miss the true connection, we miss spending quality time,
02:39and we miss laughing, like really laughing.
02:43Nothing that I'm encountering or seeing makes me feel like,
02:48oh, this is going to be solved soon.
02:51No, I still see people stuck, I still see people living in tents,
02:56people are living in terrible conditions in Europe, in Lebanon,
03:02but at the same time, people are resilient.
03:05So when we go, they laugh, you ask them and they have hope.
03:11So if they have hope, then that's good.
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