By Mayank Aggarwal, IANS,
New Delhi : Being cooped up in a ward, surrounded by doctors, medicines and anxious family members can be nerve-racking for hospitalised children – but not if they are regaled with stories every now and then.
An NGO, Uday Foundation, is starting a storytelling programme for hospitalised children in Delhi and Mumbai to “minimise their fears and anxieties”.
“The programme is starting Aug 29 at Max Hospital Saket,” Rahul Verma of Uday Foundation told IANS.
“It’s generally not a lot of fun for anyone to be in a hospital, but it’s especially tough on kids. Though doctors, nurses, families and friends make long stays more bearable, there is still much time where they can feel lonely, bored and scared. This is why we thought of starting the programme,” said Verma.
And guess who the first storyteller will be?
“Delhi Police’s Deputy Commissioner of Police H.G.S. Dhaliwal has agreed to be the storytelling volunteer for Saturday’s programme,” he added.
In Mumbai, the programme will start from Oct 2.
Verma said: “Even families experience an unusual amount of stress, anxiety and discomfort during hospitalisation. Recognising the therapeutic and entertaining nature of the art of storytelling, we thought of this programme.”
“I hope it will help children deal with their current emotional state and find alternatives for the challenges they face through examples in the stories. Our main aim is to help children, adolescents and their families in minimising their fears and anxieties,” he added.
The NGO has come up with a long list of storytellers who will sit by a patient’s bed and tell the tales.
“We already have nearly 400 storyteller volunteers with us who include students, professionals, teachers and doctors. The volunteers will read out the story for two hours, sitting at the patient’s bedside,” he said.
“You don’t need to be an expert to help children. All one needs is just an hour out of a busy schedule. We will properly train them through a workshop,” he added.
“Sometimes it will be a ‘Meet Your hero’ kind of programme wherein a person noted for feats of courage and strength with nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life or a person with special achievement in a particular field will don the role of a storyteller,” Verma said.
According to Verma, the ‘hero storytellers’ will share their own personal experience of courage and some interesting stories of their childhood with patients in groups.
The NGO also intends to set up a small library in the play area of the children’s ward in the hospital with a variety of story books, including the Panchatantra, age-old classics, comics and some basic school books.”
“Several publishing houses, including Penguin, have already shown interest in our project. We have already got more than 200 books in donation. Anyone can donate any new children’s book of their choice,” said Verma.
The NGO has also sent a proposal regarding the project to Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Hospital and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
“We are waiting for their response. Full details of these programme are available on our website, www.udayfoundationindia.org,” he added.
(Mayank Aggarwal can be contacted at [email protected])