The project in summary

Artistic activities and Healthcare Clowning interventions in East Ukraine for children with physical and mental disabilities and IDPs, and in Lesbos (Greece) for refugee and migrant minors.

The project in detail

To give children the possibility to express their feelings in a playful manner, to help them reconnect to positive feelings and regain resilience and hope; to transfer the Skills of Healthcare Clowning to the local Staff members in order to increase their psychosocial wellbeing and help them reduce the stress they experience in their everyday professional lives; strengthen the Capacity Building of the local Healthcare Clowning organizations to multiply the impact on the beneficiaries.

Ukraine

  • 287 children (IDPs or with physical and mental disabilities) living in the shelter centers and/or hospitalized in the rehabilitation centers in Kiev, Bila Tserkva (Kiev Oblast) and Pryluki (Chernigov Region);
  • 56 local Staff members and volunteers of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS);
  • 29 local hospital clowns from 5 Ukrainian Healthcare Clowning organizations;
  • 111 people (family and friends of the children and URCS Staff) attending the Circus Smile

Lesbos

  • 1’330 minors, migrants and refugees, and their families located at the Moria and Kara Tepe Camps, as well as enrolled in the Gekko Kids School;
  • 13 humanitarian aid workers and volunteers of Refugee4Refugees, attending the Humour Workshop;
  • 740 adults (families, staff and volunteers of MSF and Refugee4Refugees).

 

The two missions, also with Alta Mane support, foresaw the following activities:

  • 2 Pre-Mission Trainings in Vienna to get 7 RNI’s clown-doctors and 2 Head of Mission prepared for the mission on the field;
  • Various artistic and Healthcare Clowning interventions, such as clown shows, parades and Circus Smile shows;
  • Several clown-doctors’ visits to 27 children of the Psychiatric Ward of one of the hospitals in Kiev (TMO Psikhiatriya Department) and to some rehabilitation centers in Bila Tserkva for children with physical and mental disabilities, as well as a clown visit to a Special Needs School (Bila Tserkva) during which 120 disabled children could benefit of the clown-doctors’ artistic interventions;
  • 4 Humour Workshops and Trainings for the benefit of 55 local Staff members (doctors, nurses, humanitarian aid workers) and volunteers of URCS and of Refugee4Refugees;
  • 1 artistic Healthcare Clowning Workshop organized for the benefit of 29 clown-doctors, members of 5 local Healthcare Clowning organizations;
  • 2 Debriefings in Vienna during which the clown-doctors processed and reflected on lived experiences, discussed about critical issues detected during the mission, assessed the artistic interventions and shared the Lessons Learnt with the Emergency Smile Project Leader.

Alta Mane already supported RNI in 2018 awarding the Participation Scholarships Healthcare Clowning International Meeting 2018. Please click on the following link for further information.