Japanese volunteers will conduct clown therapy for children from a Vitebsk hospital

September 7, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Japanese volunteers will hold a clown therapy master class today at the Vitebsk Regional Children's Clinical Hospital, the Vitebsk Regional organization of the Belarusian Red Cross Society (BRCS) informed a BELTA correspondent. A group of 15 Japanese volunteers arrived in Vitebsk on September 6 to meet and exchange experience with volunteers of the Vitebsk Regional organization of the BRCS, who are working in a new, actively developing area of volunteer activity - clown therapy. The day before, guests from Japan exchanged theoretical developments, experience, and knowledge in the field of clown therapy with their Vitebsk colleagues from the "Doctor Nebolit" group and held video presentations of their activities. Today, participants of the meeting will have a practice-rich day: Japanese volunteers will conduct an almost three-hour clown therapy session at the Vitebsk Regional Children's Clinical Hospital, demonstrating their work in practice. Young patients and Vitebsk volunteers will watch them with great curiosity and attention. For the latter, the performance of the Japanese will be a good master class and will allow them to improve their own skill level. As noted in the BRCS, the idea to start working in this direction in the Vitebsk Regional organization of the BRCS arose several years ago. For this purpose, the "Doctor Nebolit" initiative group was created last year, which now has 15 active participants from among working youth and students. Group members give one to two performances weekly for children in various hospitals and social institutions. All volunteers have undergone special training at organized trainings and seminars, and possess skills in acting, juggling, performing magic tricks, animation, and plasticity. Moreover, the young people are constantly improving their skills. Thus, from July 27 to August 1 this year, Vitebsk volunteers took part in the International Training Seminar on Hospital Clownery in Moscow, where they were able to exchange experience with like-minded people from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, young people from other districts of the Vitebsk region have also become interested in the movement: within the framework of implementing BRCS mini-projects, similar initiative groups are planned to be created in Orsha, Polotsk, and Miory districts. -0-