Clowning around with TRANS

My first volunteering assignment was to be a clown on the family day of TRANS Centre in 1999. Sounds easy, except that I have never been a clown and the family day was held at the former Big Splash, East Coast. There were a couple of other volunteers who were dressed as flint stones family and we were supposed to walk around Big Splash for the families to take pictures with us. Being a clown was no easy feat. For one, I had to put on my own make-up with the help of a volunteer. Secondly, I had to navigate around Big Splash in those huge shoes and take care not to fall into the swimming pool. I came very close to looking like Ronald Macdonald. People also had expectations of a clown as I have to smile all the time and show off some balloon skills. But I possessed none of those balloon twisting skills and received a crash course in balloon art. By the end of the day, I was an exhausted clown but a fulfilled one. Seeing the families enjoy themselves and bond together made me realize that the act of giving and volunteering is priceless.