Author: Martina Vaculíková
…after visiting this historic Prague hospital since 2008 several times a week, our clown teams are somewhat of a fixture and part of the hospital routine. But, as the saying goes: what is visible every day becomes almost invisible! It was recently brought to our attention that we could do a little more to report on our regular visits there. Sorry! But, better late than never, so here goes, let’s try to catch you up on the latest…
At first glance, one might be tempted to think that the work of hospital clowns is routine. Follow the script. Do the tricks. Actually, quite the opposite is true. Even after many years of work, each patient is always an original, and therefore the visiting clown teams must sensitively and professionally improvise according to the situation at hand.
Case in point to illustrate the above: During last Monday’s visit, the language barrier for a sad Ukrainian boy presented a challenge and needed to be overcome. It lead to a funny, mutual language lesson, with both sides learning – followed up by a lesson in magic. A couple of rooms over, an amazing Cuban girl ended up giving salsa dance lesson to our clowns. She made them guess her name afterwards. Charo? Benita? Fun, but almost unsolvable!
“Salsa? Once we tuned into the rhythm, we ended up swaying and grooving to the sound,” remembers clown Michal.
“We often face sadness, for instance when the hospital stay lasts longer than the little patient expected. Often, however, this sadness will just evaporate, when we present the patient with some challenge he needs to solve. It really works every time!” adds Jana, Michal’s partner.
The C4C Dr. Klaun team for the Vinohrady hospital consists of the excellently funny Michal Jírů, Jana Haltufová and Matěj Hornák, sometimes accompanied by C4C‘s „Uber“ clown Rafael Wojas. Big thanks to all of them! May patients always cheer up with you!
“The nicest thing is, that when you’re coming down the corridor and a little patient is already shouting “They’re coming, they’re here!” and clapping his hands – because we entertained him once a few days ago and he’s so looking forward to seeing us again. It just warms our hearts – and helps the patient heal,” smiles clown Michal.
Sponsor a smile: https://www.darujme.cz/projekt/1206516
