An Effective Recipe for Breaking Barriers…

During our visits to Rafidia Governmental Hospital, I, the healthcare clown Dr. Za‘rour Abu El-Zghalil, along with my colleague Dr. Wasim and two others dressed in healthcare clown costumes, headed to one of the rooms where children and their families were present. Suddenly, a new family entered with their son, Mohammed, who was six years old. They were settling into their room and bed. Since Mohammed was suffering from bronchial inflammation, he became very scared when he saw us, crying loudly and moving away.

His father tried to hold him to bring him closer to us, but I asked the father to leave the child be and let him approach at his own pace. The father was worried for his son and tried to control him, but we chose to ignore that and let Mohammed watch how we interacted with the other children—seeing their laughter and engagement—so he could feel safe.

Indeed, he stood at a distance, observing us, and saw how we worked with everyone while they were happy and laughing. I could know that he started wanting to discover who we were on his own, and he gradually tried to get closer. I again asked the father not to touch him and let him come at his own comfort.

Meanwhile, my colleague Dr. Wasim was making bubbles, while I was interacting with another child in the room, making sounds with my “laughing duck” as if I had hidden a little chicken somewhere. I repeated this action with the frightened Mohammed, and he began to respond, showing curiosity. I knelt down and called him over; he examined and interacted with the “duck sounds” several times.

Dr. Wasim asked the child to blow the bubbles, and when he did, they flew across the room from the force of his breath. We tried this several times, and he enjoyed it immensely.

I realised that our success in this situation came from not letting the child cry and breaking his assumption that we are “doctors who inject and look scary.” On the contrary, we broke through his fear barriers to the point that he asked to take pictures with us, followed us from room to room, and his face was full of laughter and joy.