Clowns brighten Chinese hospitals

A heartwarming story about kids and cheering them up.
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Clowns brighten Chinese hospitals
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Sunday, April 23, 2006
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A dozen pint-size patients laugh and shout when the man with a red plastic nose waves a magic wand and turns black-and-white drawings to colour.
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When the clown twists a balloon into the shape of a dog, 8-year-old Ke Xinqiao claps so hard that his mother worries he will accidentally pull out an IV needle. The ecstatic youngster hardly notices as she pats it into place.
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His attention is focused on clown Liu Yongjun, who, along with his brother Liu Jinjun, has been brightening up the drab wards of two children's hospitals in Beijing since 2003.
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With their goofy blue-and-white balloon trousers and magic wands, the Liu brothers are China's first hospital clowns, pioneering the therapeutic benefits of a dose of laughter.
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The Liu brothers come from a family of acrobats, magicians and jugglers and have been clowning since they were 11. Now in their 50s, they make their living performing at birthday parties, fairs and luxury hotels in China's capital.

Hospital clowns are familiar figures in the West. But in China, public hospitals are bleak places where strict visiting hours mean children might see their parents only once a week.
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It was the lack of support for hospitalized children that inspired Claudia Vogg, a German woman who was working in China, to set up Magic Hospital.
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"For the kids, just seeing these guys in costumes and with their painted faces, it's different from the endless parade of white coats," said Magda The, one of the Magic Hospital's 13 volunteer workers. "They know they are going to have some fun."
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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/insight/story.html?id=b95a3705-0515-4801-b207-a98bd22519a8