Tom Verner, of Lincoln, is the primary force behind Magicians Without Borders, a Vermont based organization that performs magic shows for children in refugee camps, orphanages and hospitals around the world—often in war torn places. Livin’ Magazine caught up with him fresh on the heals of a trip to El Salvador.

Tom, can you give us a little background about yourself, where you were raised, how you got into magic?

I grew up in a small Irish Catholic coal mining town in Western Pennsylvania. As a boy I played in the mysterious darkness of abandoned coal mines and was an altar boy at the parish church. I was taught by Divine Providence nuns at the local parochial school. I left home at thirteen and spent the next seven years living in a cloistered monastery. At 21 I spilled out of the 13th century into the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll of the 1960s. I went to a number of colleges finally finishing up with a PhD in Clinical Psychology from The Humanistic Psychology Institute.

Photo Courtesy of Magicians Without Borders.

One of my internships in my PhD program was as a psychotherapist in a drug and alcohol hospital in Hartford Connecticut. I worked in the residential drug treatment program. One of the patients I was assigned was named Milton. Among other things, Milton was a very accomplished professional sleight of hand performer. For months I begged him to teach me a magic trick. He steadfastly refused. Finally one day he gave in, taught me a basic coin sleight and said if I practiced it for two weeks and mastered it, he would teach me another one. This began a two year apprenticeship in magic. I did psychotherapy with him and he taught me magic—two forms of healing.

How did you end up in Vermont?

I came to Vermont in 1979 to help the newly founded Burlington College develop a psychology Department. I still teach Psychology at Burlington College as a adjunct professor. I built a home in Lincoln Vermont with a group of friends, we call ourselves the Wackum Up Construction Company. Over the past twenty-five years we have built about fifteen houses for each other.

Is performing magic empowering? What is Magicians Without Borders? How did it begin?

I have often incorporated magic into my psychotherapy with children over the years. The children have always founded it empowering. This is true of any skill I imagine, artistic, academic, athletic. But I have found there is something particularly interesting about magic. Magic is about doing the impossible and this can be a particularly powerful experience for someone who often feels trapped in a hopelessly impossible situation. Magic can not only amuse and amaze, it can awaken hope in people when they see the impossible is possible.

This came home to me very powerfully seven years ago when I was traveling in Eastern Europe and was performing in the refugee camps in Kosovo. What happened in those camps made me realize that magic inspires hope in people who feel they are living in impossible, hopeless situations. My experiences with the healing power of magic inspired me to start the organization Magicians Without Borders. Magicians Without Borders is a nonprofit, tax exempt [501(c)(3)] organization that brings love, laughter and magic to refugee and orphan children around the world. In the past six years we have performed for over 250,000 children in many of the most war-torn, difficult places in the world—places like Haiti and Sudan, Burma and Bangladesh.

We were also asked by the United Nations to develop a magic show that teaches children in the refugee camps about HIV/AIDS. We developed the show and performed it for Liberian refugees this past April. The show was so successful the medical educators at the UN have asked us to do a six country tour of the show this fall and spring—Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Togo and Ghana.

One of the most exciting project MWB has been doing the last three years is teaching magic to a group of very poor children living in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Many of these children were living and working in garbage dumps five years ago. At that time a Salvadoran doctor, Dr. Vicky Guzman de Luna, started a program for some of these children, The Barefoot Angels. Three years ago when I went to El Salvador to perform in some of the villages, I met Dr. Guzman de Luna. She asked me if I would teach a little magic to some of the teenagers in The Barefoot Angels program who were doing very well in the program— they were living relatively safe and healthy lives and doing well in school.

They still live in grinding poverty surrounded by brutal gang violence. We both imagined this was going to be a one time treat for the kids. We had no idea how much these twelve children would love and take to magic. At the end of the day of teaching magic to them, they asked if I would come back and teach them more.

I made a commitment to return every three or four months. I have now been to El Salvador 10 times since that first trip three years ago. This past June, some of the Barefoot Angel Magicians performed their first nine magic shows in orphanages, hospitals and schools. This is a dream come true for me and for them. We have also set up a scholarship fund for them and the first Barefoot Angel, Wendy, is now in Nursing School and on the deans list. Four years ago Wendy was trapped in the market selling garlic with her mother and making maybe two dollars a day. As a nurse I can see Wendy doing magic with her child patients, the healing power of magic continues to ripple out in waves.

Where has it taken you?

Ethiopia (four times), Somalia, Sudan (twice), Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Haiti, El Salvador (ten times), India (three times), Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand (after the Tsunami, we performed in many orphanages for children who lost their parents in the Tsunami). We spent two weeks traveling around Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana after Katrinia and Rita, performing in the shelters. Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia, and Ukraine.

We were also invited to the Vatican by the late Pope, to participate in a gathering for folks who use the circus arts for social good. We performed and had a small private audience with Pope John Paul II. When he came into the room, my wife Janet, blew bubbles all over the Pope. As sick as he was with parkinson’s Disease, he smiled and seemed to enjoy it very much. Janet is a visual artist, who exhibits her paintings internationally. When we started Magicians Without Borders she apprenticed with a British mime and now performs as a mime and clown in the refugee camps and orphanages. We have also done presentations and performances for the United nations School in New York City.

What gives you your greatest pleasure when you are performing for the underprivileged around the world?

Bringing laughter and joy to children who have been trapped in refugee camps, sometimes for decades, and have so little to laugh and smile about. Also the sense that we bring a bit of love and hope to these children who often feel the world has forgotten them.

If someone wants to make a donation, what is the best way?

Someone can sponsor a fund raising evening in their home, at their church or organization. These are wonderfully inspiring, entertaining, and informative events that have been successful in raising funds and awareness about our work.

Folks can send a check to 100 Geary Road Lincoln Vermont 05443 make check payable to Magicians Without Borders. All donation are tax deductible.

Kyle Scanlon is the editor of Livin’ the Vermont Way Magazine.