“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” is a metaphor that certainly applies to C4C´s “Online Dr. Clown” initiative. During the two-year long Covid crisis, hospitals closed their doors to our visiting clown teams, resulting in many sad youngsters, waiting in vain for their favorite hospital past time: Dr. Clown visits!
Even though our clowns came up with some out of the box ideas, like clowning from crane platforms and balconies (see here and here), both solutions were ultimately not sustainable.
Then, just when we needed a little help from a friend, there came an offer from SAMSUNG Czech Republic!
When hearing about our dilemma, the iconic company donated a full box Galaxy Tab S6 tablets, to make the concept of on-line clown visits become a reality! Even post-pandemic, the concept of “on-line-clowning-via-tablets” continues. The tablets now make it possible to reach children in isolation when their medical conditions warrant quarantine.
“We tested online clowning in Kolín hospital and it convinced us that this is a concept we want to pursue,” says Rafal Wojas, C4C co-founder and coordinator of the Dr. Clown project. “The covid 19 disease will continue to appear from time to time, which means that every now and then there will be children who we won’t be able to visit in person in the children’s wards of hospitals. Online clowning is a wonderful alternative that can help them banish the sadness and the weight of loneliness especially in these situations.”
Author: Manfred Franke, Zuzana Šrámková
