July 30, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 129 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[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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