Laughter as Medicine: Clowns Without Borders’ Work in Turkey

This article orginally appeared in Kyodo News in February 2025, by Gunji Yasushi with support from Sawada Hiroyuki. It has been slightly edited for the purpose of this blog.

Whenever the red-nosed clown appears, the atmosphere starts to move. Cheerful music and drum rhythms play from a portable speaker. Colourful ribbons fly in the air, and big soap bubbles float on the wind.

Children come running out of the silent temporary housing. A girl chases after the clown with shining eyes. A boy hides in his mother’s shadow and watches timidly. The procession quickly grows to several dozen people and arrives at the square.

 

How Do Clowns Bring Joy to Disaster-Affected Children?

Four women from the humanitarian aid organisation Clowns Without Borders UK line up on an improvised stage separated by ropes. They deliver neither food nor medicine. They deliver laughter to ease children’s minds. When they introduce themselves with comical gestures, the small audience members cheer.

Trauma of the earthquake Antakya, a city on the Syrian border in southern Turkey, has been an ancient capital since the time of Ancient Greece. It was hit by a series of major earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 7.8 in February 2023, causing devastating damage.

More than 53,000 people died on the Turkish side alone, and the situation on the Syrian side, where a civil war is underway, remains unclear.

 

In the centre of Antakya, where many old buildings once stood, collapsed houses remain untouched even nearly two years after the disaster, and there are almost no people around. There is a school attached to the temporary housing area, but psychological counsellor Ece Nurcholak (31) said, “Many children are still unable to go to school due to the trauma of the earthquake.”

Clowns Without Borders UK has visited this city many times to share joyful performances.

The charity was founded in 1993. It started when children living in Barcelona, Spain, received a letter from a pen pal living in a refugee camp in Croatia, where conflict continued, saying, “We have lost our laughter and are lonely,” and conveyed this to a famous clown.

The movement, which began with Spanish clowns, has spread to other countries and was launched in the UK in 2014. In 2023 alone, they gave 128 performances to disaster victims in Turkey, bringing laughter to more than 10,000 children.

“In a time of crisis, a closed-off child can laugh, and a parent can see that and smile back, what a relief this can be and what people need,” emphasises Samantha Holdsworth, CEO of Clowns Without Borders UK.

Yasmin (36), a Turkish actress who works in a theatre in Istanbul, was performing as a clown in a schoolyard in the disaster area.  

After the performance, a woman who said she was the girl’s aunt approached and explained that the girl had lost her entire family in the earthquake. “Since the big earthquake, she hasn’t spoken a word, and she hasn’t laughed. Today’s performance was the first time I saw her laugh. Thank you so much,” the aunt said, with tears in her eyes.

Healing Power of Laughter

Laughter is not only healing for children. It also eases the tension and anxiety of mothers, fathers, and all disaster victims. Dilla (31), who acted as the coordinator for this performance, was once thanked by a man in the crisis area. “While I was living in temporary housing, I didn’t feel like I was really alive. Seeing the performance made me feel like I was living again.”

Dilla says, “It’s really important for parents to regain their sense of happiness, because that happiness will be transmitted to their children. If they want to dance, create the opportunity for them to do so. Having fun and releasing energy will turn into power.”

Overcoming Resistance with the Power of Play

But the clowns are not always welcomed. When they enter temporary housing areas or hospitals where people are grieving, dressed in colourful costumes, facility managers sometimes express unease, asking if their costumes are appropriate for the occasion. When this happens, Alice (30), one of the professional clowns, gently persuades them, saying, “There are people who need this.” “Then the children and adults around them join in, saying, ‘We just want to have fun.’“

Alice, an artist and mental health  trainer, says, “Laughter is the most important medicine.” Laughter relaxes stiff muscles and also works on the immune system. “We want to open as many doors as possible that are keeping disaster victims locked up.” Lauren, an artist and clown on the programme, nods and says, “Laughter exposes our own weaknesses and fragility. But that’s what brings people together.”

The Serious Work of Spreading Laughter

In front of the hotel where the clown troupe is staying, the four of them begin practising their performance. They repeat the same sequence, stopping to discuss as they go. Making people laugh is a serious challenge. When Dilla urges them, “It’s time,” the clowns board the minibus. Today, they will once again be touring three temporary housing areas. To save the hearts of children.

(This blog is a  translation of an article from Gunji Yasushi in Kyodo News, Japan. It has been edited for this blog).

How Can You Support Clowns Without Borders UK?

CWB UK relies on the dedication of professional clowns, facilitators, and circus artists to bring joyful performances to audience members in displacement settings worldwide. Whether in Turkey, Bangladesh, Mozambique, or the UK, our goal is to spread the healing power of laughter to children who need it.

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