Learn more

What: Slide-show presentation about Thomson’s trips

When: 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16

Where: Village Homes 
Community Center, 2661 
Portage Bay East, Davis.

More info: email Thomson at [email protected]

More info on the programs Patch Adams has started: http://www.patch
adams.org.

Mention the words “teenagers” and “clowning around” in the same sentence and you’re as likely to evoke a sigh of exasperation as anything else.

But not if you’re talking about Davis High School student Susanna Thomson.

Because for this teen, clowning around means so much more than goofing off: It’s a language all its own, a way to connect with and brighten the spirits of children around the world living in some of the most desolate conditions imaginable.

Take Thomson’s trip to Russia last November. Just 15 at the time, she was one of 36 people to accompany Patch Adams — the real-life doctor immortalized in the film of the same name by actor Robin Williams — on a two-week trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

There, the clowns — and all 36 were in clown character and costume the whole time — visited orphanages and hospitals and other institutions with the sole purpose of bringing smiles to faces.

Thomson herself would bring her ukulele to play, and stickers, balloons and bubbles to give out.

“The kids were always so excited to see us,” she recalled. “For them, it’s a really special day when the clowns come.”

But it was special for Thomson as well.

“Sometimes you really connect with one kid,” she explained, “and you find that you just love them so much in that one moment. One of the ways to give love is to just be silly, and it’s incredible that for that one hour, you can help them let go of their pain and sadness.”

The hardest part was then leaving those children behind.

During a visit to an orphanage for mentally ill children, the clowns entered a room set aside for the youngest children, ages 1 to 3.

“They were in cribs, but I wouldn’t call them cribs,” Thomson said. “They were more like miniature jail cells. They were never held or played with and the room was dead silent — no giggling or anything.

“We did gentle clowning … put our hands through the bars, and they would hold your hand so tight, like they didn’t want you to leave them. The hardest part of the whole trip was leaving them, not knowing when they would get anything like that again.”

Fortunately for Thomson, who was one of four teens on the trip, there were a number of older, seasoned clowns to help them deal with the emotional impact of what they’d just experienced.

“All of the clowns are such amazing, beautiful people, from all over the world,” she said. “And they were so helpful when we were experiencing all these emotions and wondering how to process everything we were seeing and feeling.”

Many of the same group were on a second trip Thomson took to Peru over the summer.

The downside of the Russia trip was having to make up all the school work she missed, so rather than returning to Russia again this fall, Thomson chose to travel with the group to the small, impoverished community of Belen, on the Amazon flood plain, during the summer.

Here, the clowns visited institutions as they did in Russia, but also put on a festival and painted houses. Everywhere, they were surrounded by children.

“The kids in Belen know the clowns are coming and expect you,” Thomson said. “When I was walking around there, I always had one kid on each hip and more trailing behind me. It’s so amazing because they have so much trust in you and you feel so welcome and in harmony with them.”

As with the Russian trip, Thomson felt fundamentally changed by her experience in Peru.
“It was life changing for me,” she said.

The families live in shacks, with little or no running water or electricity and schooling is sporadic, she said, “but the energy I felt there, I’ve never felt in the United States. Just how full of joy and love and friends and family they were was really touching.

“And the liberty and freedom that comes with being a clown,” she said, “gives give you the courage to really connect with people. It just comes naturally.”

For Thomson, it all started back when she was about 8 years old and attended for the first time a summer performing arts circus camp started by ’60s icon Wavy Gravy.

There, at Camp Winnarainbow in Laytonville, students of all ages learn everything from unicycling to juggling, theater to songwriting, “any kind of circus skill,” Thomson said.

“You can go for as long as you want — two weeks, three weeks, all summer,” she added.

She’s returned every summer since, and says, “it’s been a huge influence on my life.”

Not only has she made some of her closest friends there — including teens who travelled with her to Russia and Peru — but it’s also where she first encountered Patch Adams.

Adams, she explained, visits the camp every summer to talk to the kids about what he does, the trips he organizes, and his message that laughter truly is the best medicine.

“Patch is one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met,” Thomson said. “He is such an inspiration to me.”

Traveling with him, she added, was a hoot, especially during street clowning in Russia when Adams would draw unsuspecting passers-by into his hijinks.

Clowning on the street, she added, is great fun.

“If you have a clown nose on, you can get away with anything.”

Thomson plans to return to Peru again next summer and would like to go back to Russia again in the future. Both trips require some fundraising on her part. She’s presenting a slideshow and information evening about her trips for anyone interested in learning more.

The presentation will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, in the Village Homes Community Center, 2661 Portage Bay East, Davis.

For more information, email Thomson at [email protected]

For information on the programs Patch Adams has started, visit http://www.patchadams.org.

— Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at [email protected] or (530) 747-8051.

clown2W

Susanna Thomson stayed in clown character throughout her trip to Peru over the summer, including during a visit to an orphanage for girls. The Davis High School junior traveled to South America with Patch Adams and a contingent of clowns to bring some joy to children. Courtesy photo

clown1W

Davis High School junior Susanna Thomson finds a fan during a visit to a children’s hospital in Russia. Thomson was part of a contingent of clowns led by Patch Adams that visited orphanages and hospitals in Russia last fall, bringing smiles to the faces of many children. Courtesy photo

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