ONCE UPON A TIME.... THERE WAS A HOSPITAL CLOWN

The hospital clown is an initiative of the non-profit making organization « HOPI-CLOWN».

Its aim is to make sick children in hospitals laugh. The voluntary workers never know what the sick children suffer from or how they are treated.

Their aim is to support the hospitalized children by « clown activities ».
The voluntary workers work in 26 pediatric services in 4 provinces : Hainaut, Namur, Brabant wallon and Région bruxelloise.

The hospitalized children are not considered as sick children but as children who have to live away from their usual environment, from their parents, friends...They can be entertained in several ways : laughing, music, songs, puppets, stories, games and make up...

The voluntary workers must have a good collaboration with the doctors, the nurses. There is an ethical code of conduct in the organization and the voluntary workers must obey it. In some clinics the clown accompanies the sick children to the pre-operation theatre.