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Before I discovered clowning I felt helpless in the face of injustice. I felt my actions did not have any real impact in the great scheme of things and I was scared to speak out against the status quo. With the ticking of my biological clock I realised my femininity played a key role in the conflicts I faced and that in order to heal, I had to take immediate action upon the violence I witnessed day to day. As you read this, people are suffering from slavery, sexual abuse, imprisonment, homelessness, genital mutilation, human trafficking, pollution and our planet is on the verge of an ecological catastrophe. How can a clown transform such relationships and systems of violence while still living in them? How can a clown awaken people´s sense of RESPONSIBILITY to do something about their problems, while offering EMPATHY for their suffering, HOPE that things can change, SOLIDARITY that we are all together in this and JOY that no-one can take away our right to laugh in the midst of hardship? I was clueless until I put on a red nose and let love start the magic...

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Magiarí Díaz Díaz is a peace educator, activist and performer based in Venezuela. She has travelled on humanitarian missions around the world clowning in hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages, prisons and schools. She holds a MA in Peace and Conflict Transformation from Innsbruck University, Austria.

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