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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Patch Adams Clowning in Kabul |
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by not scared of clowns anymore
(No verified email address) |
03 Mar 2002
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Patch Adams, whom contributes and visits the school for desiging society in Urbana is currently Clowning in Kabul, Afghanistan. |
'Patch' Adams entertains Afghans
Unorthodox laugh doctor helps hospitalized children
By KATHY GANNON-- The Associated Press
American clown Dr. Hunter 'Patch' Adams, left, performs for the personnel of Indira Gandhi children's hospital in Kabul, Agfhanistan Wednesday Feb. 27, 2002. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Dressed in a clown suit and floppy shoes, his purple and gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams tickled the funny bones of sick youngsters Wednesday at the only children's hospital in the Afghan capital.
An activist, physician and clown, Adams served as the subject of a 1998 movie starring Robin Williams -- "Patch Adams, M.D."
In Kabul, Adams and his band of funny men and women, with the familiar bright red noses, painted-on smiles and bag of tricks, went from one ill child to another. One young girl, her stomach swollen, lay in her mother's arms wide-eyed at the sight.
Another giggled. Another cowered. One woman, her traditional pale blue burqa thrown back over her head so that her face showed, laughed out loud.
The hospital is a dilapidated four-story structure where rooms are warmed by kerosene heaters. It has been on the front-line of factional fighting. Its location near four key military targets made it a frightening place to be during the bombing campaign by U.S. and British jets.
Children with wracking coughs huddle around small heaters that belch out fumes in the wards. Just four months ago, the hospital had run out of fuel to run its generator during regular outages of electricity.
Since the Taliban's collapse on Nov. 13 and the installment of a U.N.-brokered interim regime in December, hopes of help have emerged for the hospital.
Even outside the hospital, the clowns' trip to Kabul wasn't all fun.
Two of the clowns were roughed up in Kabul's congested bazaars when the husbands of two women in burqas misinterpreted their antics as an overture to the women.
No one was hurt in the run-in. But it highlighted how deeply conservative Afghanistan's society is even after the departure of the Taliban, who were internationally ostracized for a list of offenses, including severe restrictions on women.
Adams' voice cracked and he seemed near tears as he talked about starving children in Afghanistan "Have you ever held a starving child in your arms? Have you?" he asked, overcome by emotion.
Adams, who believes laughter is both the greatest cure and the answer to violence, spoke strongly against the U.S.-led military campaign here. His reason for bringing his merry band to Afghanistan: "The real reason is that I don't like bombs as the answer to violence."
Adams said the United States made a mistake by attacking Afghanistan following the devastating terrorist attack of Sept. 11.
He urged his government to "look for the root cause" of the Sept. 11 attack. Adams blamed U.S. foreign policy, support for transnational companies and a rich West, taking advantage of a poor third world.
"Instead after Sept. 11 our president . . . decided that what he wanted to do was the typical male response: War, war, war," said Adams. "I am here to show that you can face violence with an alternative: Love."
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSAttack0202/27_patch-ap.html |
See also:
http://www.patchadams.org/
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