The Impact of Being Together
Our first Galilee Arches 2014 show is for the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Youth Futures program in Yokneam that mentors youth at risk. This program and our Peace Through Pyramids partnership with the Galilee circus are both supported in part by the St. Louis Jewish Federation. Youth Futures, the Galilee Circus, and Circus Harmony all have the same goal: to work with youth and provide them with skills and experiences that will make them better people and the world a better place.
After this show, one of the audience members goes up to one of our 10 year old performers to say, “That was the best circus ever.” The 10 year old excitedly shares this information with me. Both children were thrilled today— one to see something so wonderful and the other to be told he was part of something so wonderful.
They will likely never cross paths again but they have enriched each other’s lives in some small but important way. They are both children. They have had an impact because they did something and said something. So simple yet so profound.
The 27 young people who have created this wondrous show and will now be sharing it with so many others are also each having an impact on the lives they are touching. It is always amazing to me how quickly and deeply friendships form between circus kids. Also, how instantly they trust each other to catch them, to throw to them and to stand under them. I found this myself in professional circus and it is the same in youth circus.
Even in a country that is being torn apart by conflict and mistrust, in this little group, there is understanding and trust. There is acceptance. The visiting American children are being housed in the homes of Jewish and Arab families. The families get together. They share meals. They attend shows. They are kind to each other. These simple acts have an impact that is—that everyone hopes will continue to be—deep and long lasting. It is these kinds of experiences that we hope will make these children better people and the world a better place.