“The body heals with play, the mind heals with laughter, and the spirit heals with joy.” -Buddhist Proverb
Hospital Children’s Centers
Project Life creates Children’s Centers in district hospitals in Rwanda and Zimbabwe. These spaces give hospitalized children a chance to play, laugh, read, draw, and heal.
In 2022, the first Children’s Center was created in the Gisenyi Hospital near the Democratic Republic of Congo border in Rwanda. Head Pediatric Nurse Hyacinth Uwamariya said, “Since the start of this project, there have been changes in the behavior of the children which clearly shows that this room helps them not feel alone. It gives them a place to play, read, talk and have fun which makes them recover faster.”
So far, Children Centers have been created in Masaka, Gisenyi, Musanze and Kibogora district hospitals in Rwanda and Karanda mission hospital in Zimbabwe.
It all began with an idea.
Here is how the first hospital children center came about…
See the progress.
Project Life partners with Agati Library. Doctors see benefits. Two more Children Centers are made. Librarians stay connected through WhatsAp chat.
At the Ruhengeri District Hospital there was NO available space for a Children Center due to overcrowding in the pediatric ward. Project Life and Agati decided to try to transform an old shipping container on the hospital grounds. With a lot of love, paint and hard work a window was made, furniture was built, shelves were filled and a beautiful Children’s Center was created.
BEFORE
AFTER
Each district hospital children center has a librarian.
Meet the Team in Rwanda:
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Henriette
Masaka Hospital Children Center Librarian
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Israella
Kibogora Hospital Children Center Librarian
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Jackson
Gisenyi Hospital Children Center Librarian
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Yvonne
Musanze Hospital Children Center Librarian
Children Center in Karanda Hospital, Zimbabwe
In a remote part of Zimbabwe, Project Life is supporting the development of a hospital campus. They needed better facilities like a rehabilitation center. One of the challenges in the health sector in Africa is keeping families of medical staff together. So we also funded better housing for staff and a school for their children and the surrounding area. We also brought the children center idea to their hospital's pediatric ward. While David was operating at the hospital, I (Jessica) painted the walls of an old x-ray room with my children. We helped make the furniture pieces and painted them and the walls. We filled the room with books, drawing material and toys and then encouraged kids to play.
The idea to make Children Centers in hospitals developed after we started bringing books, coloring materials and stuffed animals to some of Davids’s patients. We made and handed out “Get Well” cards too. By 2020, we realized we were seeing the same patients quite a bit. Many young patients stay in hospitals for lengthy periods of time without a place to learn.
HOW It Works
We ask district hospitals if they are interested and if they have a room available in or near their pediatric ward. Every year, we bring donations, blocks, drawing materials and other educational toys. We buy local books and support local publishers and authors. We partnered with Agati Library in Musanze, Rwanda. With Project Life funds, they hire local carpenters to make furniture, artists to paint the walls and librarians to manage the rooms.
Where donations come from.
This video tracks the books from the Boston Children School to the Rwandan district hospital children centers.