[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 30, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5186-S5187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING VERMONT'S MAGICIANS WITHOUT BORDERS
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, when Lincoln, VT, resident Tom Verner
performs magic shows for children in refugee camps, orphanages, and
hospitals, he brings joy and laughter to the places where it is most
needed. In 2002, Tom and his wife, Janet Fredericks, cofounded
Magicians Without Borders and have since performed in more than 40
countries, for more than 1,000,000 of the world's most vulnerable
people. Magicians Without Borders is one shining example of Vermonters
thinking outside the box and using their creativity to make the world a
better place. It is with pride and appreciation that I recognize Tom,
Janet and the Magicians Without Borders organization for their
achievements.
Tom was a professor of psychology in 2001 when he embarked on a trip
through the Balkans, performing magic shows in the refugee camps of
Kosovo and Macedonia. The performances were so well received that, upon
returning to Vermont, Tom took a year off from his position at
Burlington College to found Magicians Without Borders.
Since Tom's first trip, he and Janet have made six trips each year,
continuing to use magic to transform the lives of youth in at risk
situations around the globe. Tom, Janet, and Magicians Without Borders
have performed everywhere from the Sudan, to Colombia, from Ukraine to
Bangladesh. They traveled to Thailand and Burma for a month of
performances in the wake of a tsunami and performed stateside
throughout Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
In 2004, a series of shows at rural schools in El Salvador was met
with such positivity that Tom was asked to teach a few magic tricks to
the students. These impromptu classes turned into a unique, long-term
education program geared toward increasing self-confidence, discipline,
focus, and self-esteem. Tom, Janet, and Magicians Without Borders have
now returned to El Salvador more than 30 times to entertain and educate
these children who find themselves surrounded by terrible gang violence
and abject poverty. The program has inspired young Salvadoran magicians
to perform their own magic shows in orphanages, hospitals, and disaster
areas and aspire to teach magic to other young people.
Due to their success in El Salvador, Magicians Without Borders
expanded these education programs to Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and
the United States. Two additional education programs have been
implemented in India.
I am proud to recognize the contributions that Tom, Janet, and
Magicians Without Borders have made me so many communities across globe
in the last 18 years. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the
Record an Addison Independent article titled ``Lincoln Magicians Bring
Joy to Refugees at the Border.'' It describes how Tom and Janet use
magic to connect with those suffering at our southern border and how
they have expanded their mission to entertain, educate and empower
across the world.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Addison Independent, July 3, 2019]
Lincoln Magicians Bring Joy to Refugees at the Border
Lincoln.--Tom Verner and Janet Fredericks performed magic
at the U.S.-Mexico border last December.
Not the kind of magic that allows tired, hungry and fearful
refugees to simply waltz across the border to new lives in
America. The Lincoln couple, working as Magicians Without
Borders, staged a show of sleights-of-hand and humor designed
to not only entertain, but also to provide a light of hope in
dark circumstances.
Since that December trip, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection has encountered more than half a million
additional migrants hoping to enter the U.S. The vast
majority of these refugees were arrested and detained by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in facilities that
a growing number of experts, including Holocaust scholars,
have compared to concentration camps.
Performing at the border last year, and again this past
March, has helped Verner and Fredericks better understand the
issues there.
``These refugees didn't want to leave their homes,'' Verner
told the Independent this week. ``They're fleeing murderous
violence, political oppression and grinding poverty, and
they're coming to the closest place where, as the Statue of
Liberty says, they can `breathe free.' ''
During their March trip, Verner and Fredericks met a six-
year-old boy named Sebastian, whose family had fled Honduras.
Because Sebastian has cerebral palsy and cannot walk, his
father had carried him on his back--for more than 1,800
miles.
The conditions and political climate of the U.S. border are
nothing, however, compared with those in Honduras,
Sebastian's father told Verner.
It's the kind of story the Lincoln residents have
encountered over and over again--all over the world.
Since founding Magicians Without Borders in 2002, Verner
and Fredericks have traveled to more than 40 countries and
performed for ``over 1 million of the most forgotten people
in the world.''
Their mission is to entertain, educate and empower.
BEGINNINGS
In 2001 Verner, then a professor of psychology at
Burlington College, was traveling through the Balkans,
performing magic shows in refugee camps in Kosovo and
Macedonia.
``It was a transformative experience,'' he said.
In one Macedonian camp, which sheltered about 2,000 people,
mostly Roma, Verner met a little girl named Fatima who became
his ``assistant'' for the day.
``We couldn't understand each other's languages, but we
understood each other,'' Verner said. When it came time for
Verner to move on to the next camp, however, he could not
find Fatima to say good-bye. Disappointed, he returned to his
car, only to find Fatima hiding in the back seat. She
[[Page S5187]]
begged Verner to take her with him, but he could not.
Verner's driver then suggested they visit Shutka,
Macedonia, which the driver said was ``swollen with
refugees.'' Within 10 minutes of their arrival in the main
square more than 300 people had gathered to watch him
perform, Verner said.
Afterward, he recalled, ``a Roma woman who'd seen me
multiplying things in my show, came up to me holding a five-
dinari Macedonian coin. `Make more money,' she said. She
thought if I could make things multiply, why not money?''
Verner performed a trick producing a 50-dinari coin--the
equivalent of about 80 cents at the time--and the woman was
genuinely thrilled.
After she walked away, two Roma men who'd been watching
asked Verner if he could produce visas to America.
``They were completely serious,'' Verner said. ``As if I
could wave a magic wand and Condoleezza Rice would suddenly
sign the necessary paperwork.''
These and other encounters led to an epiphany for Verner,
which he distills into a quote from fellow magician Harry
Houdini--himself a refugee from Hungary:
``In certain circumstances, magic not only amazes and
amuses but it has the power to awaken hope that the
impossible is possible.''
Upon his return to Vermont, Verner obtained a year's leave
from Burlington College to found Magicians Without Borders.
``That one year has turned into 18,'' he said happily.
TEACHING MAGIC
In 2004, Magicians Without Borders
(MWB) visited El Salvador, which was still reeling in the
aftermath of a 12-year civil war that had been fought in
large part by child soldiers.
The founder-director of the Salvadoran Rural Health
Association was so impressed with Verner's school
performances that she asked him to teach some magic tricks to
children participating in a program called ``Barefoot
Angels'' (so named because many of the children had been
working barefoot in a garbage dump). Verner readily agreed.
At the end of that daylong workshop, one of the students,
14-year-old Jaime Zumba, asked, ``When are you coming back?''
Verner, who had had no return plans, hesitated, then said,
``How about May?''
That moment, Verner said, changed the course of MWB. Since
then he's visited El Salvador more than 30 times.
Soon, some of the children wanted to do more than just
learn a few magic tricks. They were aspiring to teach it to
other children. As a result, MWB now has programs in Brazil,
Colombia, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
Two more programs have evolved in India, as well--one at a
night-care shelter for the children of brothel workers who
are trapped in the sex trade.
``These were children who had been sleeping under mom's bed
while she was working,'' Verner recalled soberly.
That program's Hindi name, Prerana, translates into English
as ``Inspiration.''
DREAMS
``We're not trying to teach them to be magicians,'' Verner
said. ``We're trying to build their confidence in themselves.
What happens is that these kids start studying and
performing, and something starts to happen, you start to see
all these benefits. It awakens dreams.''
Verner spoke of children who've gone on to pursue studies
in nursing, culinary arts and social work.
None of this would have been possible, however, without the
generous support Verner and Fredericks have received over the
years, both abroad and at home.
In the coming weeks, for instance, allies of MWB have
scheduled two fundraising events at Bixby Library in
Vergennes, which they hope will help fund another trip to the
U.S.-Mexico border in August.
Magicians Without Borders will perform for children at the
Bixby on July 25, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., then give a brief talk
about their work.
An event on Aug. 1, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., will be geared
toward adults: travel stories and performance history, with
some magic woven in.
Verner hopes MWB can make multiple trips to the border in
the future, in part because he knows what's at stake. After
all, even his own sources of hope and inspiration have
emerged from deeply, shockingly tragic circumstances.
Jaime Zumba's enthusiasm in El Salvador 15 years ago may
have changed the course of MWB, but the young man's lived
experience, like that of so many thousands who have fled
their homes, is all too familiar in that part of the world
and often inspires too little notice.
``It is not uncommon,'' he once told Verner, ``for me to
walk over a decapitated naked body on my way to school.''
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