Guatemala: Proyecto Payaso (Clown Project)

These are really just a few of the photos that I have from Guatemala. The ones from maybe the last couple of months... but it'll give you an idea anyway. I worked with Proyecto Payaso for about a year and a half and left it before Christmas in 2005. It was a Guatemalan project working in educating about and preventing HIV/AIDS with a focus on rural communities. We were made up of a squad of over half Guatemalans, the rest foreigners, mainly from Spain, about half men and about half women. Yep, now put that in a pot stir it up, put it around a big long table and call it a collective.



The clowns meet snow, and hail and first ever snow-ball fights here in Guatemala on tour somewhere during rainy season.

















I prepare for the show with shoes made by our resident clown shoe maker Victor. This was touring in the contrary of snow...we were melting.






















I'm flying out of a tree as super woman probably about to use a condom in an improvisation during one of the few workshops we managed to pull off and Stef is conducting a clown disco in the office bathroom to start of a staff meeting.






























Preparing a churrasco (barbecue of beef with tortillas, guacamole, barbecued onions, beens, and beer). Using an old AIDS poster from the office. Juanita, Mario, Eddy.




















A youth group from Jocopilas Quiche that we worked with. They developed a show talking about HIV/AIDS and then toured it to their own surrounding communities.


















One of the fine establishments we stayed in on tour.
































One of our fine work trucks and a typical work day activity... or something of this sort.

























Partying it up on a slippery stage with slippery shoes... you do the math, but it wasn't me.

Ana and Dani ready to be whisked away by aliens to outer space.


















We did some work in albergues after the hurricanes. That's where we are in this picture chasing a young child up a tree.























This is the party in the bathroom continued but I don't know how to put it beside the other picture without messing everything up.
















These are the clowns at the bar-b-q (as seen above)

















The stage... to put things in perspective.





















Herme, looking as smashing as ever in his cowboy hat. This is the typical Herme photo gaze

Me talking to young gentlmen about *sex* and condoms.