Here you find info about our news and current activities
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Plastered T-shirt’s Two Year Anniversary Party raises 4,000RMB for Magic Hospital
May 9th was not your usual Friday evening on Nanluoguxiang hutong. Although the trendy alleyway is no stranger to young revelers, there was more of a buzz than usual as Plastered T-shirts rolled out the red carpet for their second year anniversary party. Welcoming guests from across Beijing – friends, customers, media – the t-shirt brand hosted an evening of comedy, live music, and free drinks asking guests to contribute at the door to the worthy charity, Magic Hospital.
Shed Simove provided the comedy for the evening – producer of the massively successful Big Breakfast and the ever popular Big Brother programme in the U.K. He brought his bag of tricks and entertained the crowd while Random Ke played a brilliant set of live music. DJ Da Yong kept things spinning while guests spilled out into the surprisingly warm (for May) Beijing streets. Haobuhao's visuals were a stunning backdrop for the evening, showcasing design from the past and present.
We say a Big Thank you to the generosity of our partner Plastered and its guests!
Abracadabra!….. and Zhao Bin can call home again
17 year old Zhao Bin recently underwent an organ transplant which forced him to remain quarantined while his body was having difficulties accepting the new
organ. The only person allowed to stay with him is his mother. His father and the rest of his family live far away from Beijing, hoping and waiting for news that the transplant will be successful and enable Zhao Bin to restart his life again.
When Zhao Bin's mother's cell phone broke, the separation and isolation of Zhao Bin and his mother was unbearable for the nurses to witness. They made a wish to our Abracadabra program: a new cell phone for Zhao Bin's mother to enable them to call Zhao Bin's father at home.
Our Abracadabra Wish Team pulled the phone out of their hat and visited Zhao Bin and his mother. The moment of surprise and joy in the faces of mother son will be unforgettable for our Abracadabra Wish Team!
We also handed them “My Inner Olympics” medal for their courage and stamina.
During China's toughest winter babies'legs will stay warm
For 50 years China has not been challenged by a strong winter like the one in 2008. Whole infrastructures collapsed and people in the countryside face the coldest days they ever experienced. But thanks to the generous donation of Nicole Donnelly from BabyLegs Magic Hospital has ensured that over 1000 babies will be warm for the new year of the rat.
Nicole Donnelly, stay-at-home mom to Sara, started making BabyLegs to keep her dear daughter's legs warm whilst allowing for nakedly butt time. Well, it turns out that these leg warmers are great for crawling over all surfaces and since they are such a big success, Nicole wanted to share them with the babies in China.
The timing could not have been any better. Together with the help of Morning Sun Center of Hope, United Foundation of Chinese Orphans and Our Chinese Daughters Foundation we were able to get the BabyLegs of all different colours and patterns to the orphanages in the countryside, where babies and children live under most severe conditions, often no heating and insufficient medical supplies. Thank you for helping us to reach out to places far in the countryside.
But of course we also did not forget about our little friends in and around Beijing. Magic Hospital volunteers had the great pleasure to see many toddlers and children at the Blue Sky Healing Home, Beautiful Harbour Orphanage, Living Tree and Philip Hayden Foundation brighten up at the sight of the cuddly gift.
One of the many heart-warming incidences was a little boy who only has one leg. The boy was so happy and proud about his new gift and immediately put the legwarmer on his good leg.
Thank you to Nicole, Amy, Brean, Gary and Ted for helping us warm up the smallest ones all over the country!
Magic Beans – Growing hope for those who have lost it
In cooperation with Guangzhou Parent Group, a group of enthusiastic parents of children with cancer and dedicated volunteers, Magic Hospital reached out to 500 children at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Hospital, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and several other children hospitals in Guangzhou. The parent group has been founded by Mr. Cui, a father of a son who did not win the fight against cancer. He turned his grief into help by bringing hope and courage to children with cancer and other severe illnesses in Guangzhou’s children hospitals. For Christmas 2007 the Parent Group reached out their hand to Magic Hospital, and we were more than willing to support the wonderful Magic Bean Project. A Magic Bean becoming a beautiful flower through light and care. We hope that all our friends who have received this symbol for a brighter future will be better soon!
A big thank you to the Parent Group in Guangzhou and the hospital staff, who made this lovely initiative possible
With temperatures plummeting it can mean only one thing: Christmas has arrived and like every year Magic Hospital has sent a happy bunch of volunteers to accompany Santa and his band of merry musicians, this year even including a bag pipe player, and spread Christmas cheer to 1580 boys and girlsat 7 locations - Beijing Children Hospital, Beijing University Hospital, Green Garden and Guang Ai Migrant Schools, the New Life Centre in Shunyi and the foster home Living Tree in Hebei Province as well as Pudong Special School in Shanghai.
While the children at New Life Center welcomed Santa with a very happy and not so silent version of ‘Silent Night’ and the children at Living Tree foster home showed Santa how to do a somersault and recited poems, Green Gardens kids queued very nicely and some shy looks revealed that Santa - though a welcome guest - still had their respect. Not so the children at Guang Ai who surprised Santa with a heart-warming attack as they couldn’t resist checking whether the beard was real or not - costing the old man quite some energy to ensure that the crowd of curious children did not detect the pillow under his belt. Some beard testing also happened at Ertong, where the children clapped their hands and shouted ‘warmly welcome’. Upon our clown Liu Jinjun’s question how old they guessed Santa was the guesses varied from 8 to 100 years...
What all the children share is the moment of unbelieving surprise when Santa appears - as if it is almost too hard to believe for these children that Santa really found them.
Magic Hospital on behalf of 1580 children would like to thank all the volunteers who helped to spread the Yuletide glee among our little friends.
Santa’s bag would not have been that full if it were not for a very generous Santa helper named Jack Hung from Okktoys Company who is supporting our workshop generously with his yearly donation of gifts
Moreover we would like to thank the Daimler AG in Beijing, who by now has made it a tradition to provide Santa’s sleigh in form of vans and drivers to ensure that we can go to even the farthest places.
But most of all we have to thank all the fantastic children we have visited: Their laughter and joy will stay in our hearts and accompany us through the New Year.
Outdoorsy Day with Xing Xing Yu - Stars and Rain School for Children with Autism 2007
"It is said that you are children of the stars
I only want to know where your world is
You come down from the sky like rain
And join my life bringing mysteries
I feel I have to tell you
This world is as beautiful as your" (From the Information Manual of Stars and Rain)
The name Stars and Rain is a combination from Children of the Stars, which the kids with autism are called in Taiwan and the American movie “Rainman”.
Beijing's sky was filled with rain when our Outdoorsy Day with Stars and Rain kicked off. Like stars from the sky the 43 children fell out of the buses with their little shiny red Magic
Hospital backpacks. Not minding the rain at all, the excited chatter and the bright smiles of the children and their parents immediately filled the rainy parking lot - the fun could begin
On our way to lunch, our first stop, one thing was clear to us volunteers right away: These children are fabulous. Besides all the fun and joking around, our trip met the intention to support the children's educational process, as it gave them a chance to use newly learned behaviour guidance techniques in a non-school setting. They passed with an A+.
After such a happy day, saying good bye is never easy…
A big Thank you
to Beijing Zoo, whose staff did an incredible job leading 124 people through the crowds on a Saturday without losing their patience or control once.
to the four young ladies of the Nightingale Club, who spent the day with us, spreading happiness with bubble-makers and entertaining the kids with photo-sessions.
Last but not least to Plastered T-Shirts a big, big hand for their generosity making this event possible.
School inauguration and T-shirt day at Primary School at Linxi Village
Linxi Village in Shizu County is one of the poorest villages in China, a 6-hours bus ride away from Chongqing. We did expect the children there to be happy about some visitors, but what awaited the volunteers in Linxi was so moving and overwhelming that some of us could not hold back the tears and deeply touched by an experience that was unique for both sides, the poor villagers and the group of volunteers stepping into another world for a day.
Behind the pink dragon dancers that welcomed us excitedly, about 200 children appeared forming a guard of honour and shouting welcoming words at us, wildly waving flags, welcoming signs and flowers. The cries would not end and the children incessantly showed us how thankful they are.
Magic Hospital was blessed with the opportunity to share these touching moments with the team of volunteers, as we were invited by Baxter Healthcare to celebrate a T-Shirt Day in this little village along with the inauguration ceremony for the new primary school. To give the visit of Linxi a fun aspect and to provide a happy event for the children beside the official ceremony we shipped 200 of our red backpacks & T-Shirts and brought a wave of colourful happiness to our little friends in the mountains.
The children took their task very seriously, and showed great creativity in painting their new T-shirts with their individual designs, demonstrating them with pride. But not only the children enjoyed the happening - the whole village gathered and watched the happy and overexcited children. Most of their parents are working in the bigger cities and leaving their children alone, some still being sent money, some simply forgotten. Mostly grandparents were among the crowd sharing the moments with their grandchildren.
Baxter Healthcare sponsored the new primary school for Linxi Village and thus providing a better learning environment for 205 children and their 9 teachers. A big Thank You for offering us the opportunity to join your trip to Linxi! It was unforgettable.
Mid Autumn Festival 2007 brings visitors to Shanghai Special School and Green Garden School in Beijing
The Mid Autumn Festival is about spending quality time with your loved ones, eating, chatting and having a good time together. Our Shanghai team took the spirit of the festival to Shanghai Special School, a school for children with cerebral palsy. The daily routine of meals, games and training of the kids was brightened up by cheerful volunteers and a clown, eating lunch with them, holding spoons, motivating them during their usually monotonous and exhausting training and sharing happy hours playing games with the excited children.
Equipped with paper, pens, scissors and stickers they helped the children create Moon Festival Greeting Cards for their families - a nice surprise for the parents, sisters and brothers.
In the end just having someone spend time with them was what counted so much for the children, as the school does not see visitors very often - what a good opportunity to remember the ones who cannot be around their families eating moon cakes like everyone else.
At the same time in Beijing it was Mediacom Company who had a similar idea in mind: to bring cheer to children at this special time of the year. Mediacom has been cooperating with Magic Hospital before. Being a company that always has an open ear when it comes to helping children, this year Mediacom wanted to bring mooncakes to children in need. We recommended Green Garden School and the children enjoyed not only the cakes but games and laughter with the volunteers of this open-hearted company. What a great initiative!
The short story of Project Bean
Project Bean is named after a 7-year old girl who was saved from a rare tumour thanks to the love and donation from people in Dalian. The adopted nick name for the little girl is "Little Bean".
During our Christmas party at the Shanghai Children Medical Center, MH volunteers met Little Bean. They learnt about her story and subsequently paid a visit to her village and her school, the Linshan school.
Little Bean's school hosts 168 children from the nearby villages and was built with the help of funds of volunteers who organized an education forum in their spare time back in 2003. The pupils are equipped with the basics such as desks and books, however it became evident that there was a lack of extra-curriculum books as well as sports facilities.
That was how the "Project Bean" idea came up: MH volunteers to collaborate with the FSDC, an club of overseas returnees to raise funds together and bring some joy and much needed equipment to the school and its 168 children.
13,000 RMB were raised and changed into 168 magic backpacks, 568 books, stationary, 1 set of soccer ball gate, 1 basket ball basket, 2 table tennis tables, 3 horizontal gym bars, 6 soccer balls, 6 basketballs, 6 table tennis sets, 60 jianzi, 30 jumping ropes.
All was handed over on T-shirt day, 16th of June when a group of 12 dedicated volunteers went to the school to play, to organise little competitions such as jumping ropes, to paint T-shirts, to exchange goals and dreams, to have a picnic. For more information about our T-shirt day itself please scroll down to the previous article.
Children, teachers and volunteers felt the experience was fun, very rewarding and unforgettable. Each class formed a bond to their volunteer and it was difficult to separate and many were emotional in the end when volunteers had to say good-bye.
1700 children in Beijing, Dalian and Shanghai celebrate their T-shirt day
Shy smiles and nods with whispered “xie xies” gave way to large grins and excited exclamations as the children received their “Magic Backpacks” and opened them revealing a brand new t-shirt, fabric markers, coloured pencils, paper, hand wipes and a flavoured milk drink: T-shirt Day II had begun.
On June 2 and 3, at childcare facilities in Beijing and Shanghai, that included hospitals, migrant schools, shelters and orphanages, the Magic Hospital team with 100 volunteers arrived to help the children record hopes and dreams on their own piece of wearable art. More than 1,700 children participated in the event scheduled to coincide with Children's Day.
Some children were quick to take pen to shirt drawing a kaleidoscope of flowers, animals, hearts and houses while others took their time savouring the receipt of a new piece of clothing still in it's packaging. Olympic rings appeared on many shirts this year just as the rest of China is swinging into the momentum of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with the clarion call “one world, one dream”. Magic Hospital wishes to spread that same spark to these children, so often ignored by the main stream. None of us know what each of their dreams and desires are, until they are encouraged and individually expressed.
T-shirt day will come to about 300 children in Chongching some time in August.
Magic Hospital is already working towards T-shirt Day-III in hopes to provide what one little girl told a volunteer was “the best day of her life” for even more children next year.
MH launches the music development and therapy program pilot project
The Music Development and Therapy Program aims to provide the positive power of music to underprivileged and sick children. For children from migrant school and orphanages, program planners, team leaders and members will put together weekly sessions and create new programs that combine music with movement, dance, instrumental knowledge and children songs. For children at the hospitals, volunteers will provide warm and loving music sessions through therapeutic music sharing and simple movements that go with cheerful tunes. Our volunteer musicians are passionate and include music lovers, teachers, professional performers and amateurs.
The first beneficiary of this new program is the Guang Ai Migrant School, where a team of volunteers visits every Saturday morning to carry out the music sharing session. The children are introduced to music from various cultures, learn how to read notes, clap rhythms and move their bodies to the music!
The pilot program will last for 2 months. If you would like to be part of the program or simply know more about it then please drop us an email to musictherapy@magichospital.org
Santa brings holiday cheers to more than 1000 children
On his return visits to Beijing children's hospitals and this year also migrant school Guan Santa and his helpers, supported by generous donations of toys and other gifts, brought Christmas cheer to more than 1000 children and reminding children.
Particularly touching was a young Chinese girl terminally with leukemia who was confined to bed in a room separate from the other children. Her mother asked the nurses if Santa could pay a special visit to her daughter. Santa readily agreed, bringing a doll for the girl, setting it in the corner of her bed so she could see it by raising her eyes, the only part of her body she could move. Gently touching her on the shoulder, Santa spoke words of love and encouragement, knowing that his English words might not be understood, but hoping that the touch and voice would be. The girl's mother and father watched this moment from her bedside, tears flowing, knowing it would likely be the last Christmas with their daughter.
At the Guang Ai migrant school 200 children ranging from wee to teenage age enjoyed singing songs jingle bells and their very FIRST Santa sighting . The look on their precious faces says it all.
Santa brought much joy and happiness to Beijing children this year (before he went to Shanghai !) But not all moments can be joyful and happy. Sometimes it is important to just be there - for a word, a hug, a touch, a tear – and to lighten the burdens of life and love by sharing them, if only for a moment, if only for a memory.
And a big thank you to all the kind-hearted volunteers who made again made this event possible!
Workshop II in art therapy and T-shirt day in Shaanxi Province
Magic hospital mobile team provide the second part of a training series of art and music therapy workshops from November 22 to 26 with a total of 10 participants including care takers, educators, and psychologists (please scroll down to see our article about the first training in Shaanxi)
This training module focused on teaching the participants to assist the psychological needs of traumatized children through Expressive Arts Therapy such as art, music and play therapy. Participants presented to the group their experiences demonstrating how the course in art therapy sofar has been a key element in providing relief to traumatized children.
“Since the first course participants have gone a long way with the implementation of expressive arts therapy in their center. They are not only able to demonstrate knowledge on arts therapy, but also design art therapy activities for trauma resolution and present useful case studies in a professional way” said course provider and certified art therapist Carla Ortiz.
Gurucharan Khalsa PhD (Child psychologist) and Caroline Maxwell ( Nurse happened to join the magic team and supplemented the workshop by introducing relaxation techniques such as visualization and alternative therapies in order to alleviate and decrease stress and tension in children, but also in care givers.
Dr G. Khalsa further advised participants about specific needs assisting the children's individual needs and kindly offered to support the workshops and their successful implementation by continuous support and mentoring.
PLUS: we also took advantage of the opportunity and did a T-shirt day on a smaller scale with the children Again it was a lot of fun!!! (Please scroll down for the first T-shirt day for 1,500 children)
The MH mobile team feels really satisfied with the success of these pilot trainings and we strive to continue this important mission as to assist the helpers in providing healing through psychological support for children in need.
Magic Hospital expands to Shanghai and Santa Claus pays a visit
MH is very happy to announce that in October 2006 we expanded and started our regular in the Shanghai Children's Medical Center ( http://www.scmc.com.cn ), a hospital that was built out from funds from Project Hope. We have started out the trial period with weekly entertainment of playful English lessons and art therapy, and are now in process implementing more activities, of course the clowns program as well as other locations such as orphanages or foster homes.
But for a start we also thought Santa could do a little bit of traveling. So the kind and warmhearted team in Shanghai organized a party for about 60 little patients plus their parents.
The playroom was festively decorated and every kid got its own memory photo with Santa. They were posted the next day on a wall in the playroom, ready for them to take which extended the fun and brought back the memory. Volunteers played with the children or provided a small workshop to make fun Christmas cards for parents, and sometimes grandparents.
We could tell the kids had a lot of fun as they did not want to leave, resulting that Santa had he toughest job to talk and play non-stop for 3 hours. For those unable to leave their beds Santa toured the wards and spent time with them.
Many thanks to the excellent Santa and all the elves and volunteers for all your support and spending time with children wh
Clowns on two wheels cycle to the Star & Rain Autism School
The Cyclown Circus cycled into Beijing and MH invited the group to perform at the Stars and Rain Autism School, Xing Xing Yu. The cyclown group is a special circus that travels the world via strange and funny bicycles. Their goal is to share the amazing fun filled world of the circus and to encourage kids.
The autistic children and their parents had just finished an extensive 11 weeks training program during which they learned how to cope and improve their daily life. Magic Hospital wanted to celebrate with them.
The show involved live music, clowning, unicycling, juggling, acrobatics, dancing, singing and a chicken laying eggs… that one of the clowns put into and took out of his mouth at unprecedented speeds and caught again. Definitively, an amusing chaos! Parents, teachers, clowns and guests were thrilled to see how engaged the children were and how actively they participated in the show – answering the clowns' questions; copying their movements; some even dressing-up. Most importantly it was wonderful to hear their laughter filling up the room.
A big thank you to Rocio, Simone, Shanty and Jeremy and all the others from the Cyclown circus for making this fantastic day possible!
The students of Guang Ai Migrant School are staying warm this winter
This is a wonderful example of children helping and giving joy to other children.
Elizabeth (14) and Catherine (11) were among the youngest volunteers for the Magic Hospital's "T-Shirt Day" in June 2006, designated to help and paint with the children from the Guang Ai Migrant worker school.
Catherine and Elizabeth were struck by the enthusiasm and friendliness of the students and families but also by the dearth of standard school, supplies ranging from books and maps to furniture and art supplies.
It occured to the girls that they could raise some money and offer to buy some needed supplies for the school, so they created an organization called "EMC²” for "Educating Migrant Children in China" as a way to tell the story to family and friends.
"EMC²" calls of course to mind Einstein's formula, and both thought it to be a fitting name for an organization devoted to making common cause with fellow students in need.
They made outright solicitations and also performed some outdoor work and put their compensation towards "EMC 2." As a result Elizabeth and Catherine presented brand-new winter jackets to the children and also 2 heaters.
Magic Hospital handed Elizabeth and Catherine a special recognition award to acknowledge this great initiative. A big Bravo to you both!
First Art therapy training workshop in Shaanxi Province
As part of the Magic Mobile team program, which also aims to reach out to more remote places, certified art therapist and MH volunteer Carla Ortiz, traveled to Baoji and Xian in Shaanxi province to provide the first introductory training about art therapy.
Sensory-based interventions are a key in facilitating trauma debriefing, re-enactment, and resolution. Art and drawing can help traumatized children to externalize and concretize their experience in a language, which can then be cognitively reframed.
From 10 th - 14 th of August nine care takers from the Long Xian Orphanage, the XinXing Center for Street Children , and the Children Village Foster Home, a shelter for children of imprisoned parents participated in this 5-day training workshop which covered topics such as Art as a healing process, Advanced Art, Play Therapy and Creative journal for children.
The training provided the necessary knowledge to take first steps in implementing art as a tool for the trauma recovery process in their centers. As one participant, Chen Yanping, from the Long Xian Orphanage would describe it: “ I have acquired a lot of knowledge of Art Therapy. I know that there is not only verbal communication with children but also a better way like by Art Therapy. I should learn more and implement it carefully. I would like to have more training like this in the near future; I would like to learn more about art therapy in order to do a better work with the children in our center.”
Making new friends in the Panda House
On a warm spring day in May, volunteers from Goldman Sachs in Beijing donated their time to accompany more than 40 autistic children and their parents to the Beijing Zoo as part of the firm's global volunteer program Community TeamWorks (CTW). It was wonderful to see how the volunteers and their new young friends bonded so quickly.
The visit started with a guided tour of the capital's historic zoo, followed by lunch, and ended at the famous Panda House, featuring the loveable mascot of all Chinese children. The autistic children were in awe of the animals, and the zoo visit gave them an opportunity to discover, look and laugh while creating fond memories to take home with them.
The event turned out to be a “community” project in the truest sense of the word – involving young autistic children from the “Stars and Rain” school, their parents, the volunteers and the always friendly and helpful Beijing Zoo management and staff.
On behalf of the children and their parents, Magic Hospital would like to thank everybody involved for their warmth and commitment that made this excursion a most enjoyable and happy event.
When a Life Size Bear teaches you how to communicate
According to UN statistics there are some 120 million deaf in China of which 89% are unemployed. Only about 5% of deaf children receive education in deaf schools. 根本就没有那么多!!!
On 21st of June DeafbyDeaf and Magic Hospital have launched their joint pilot program for 4 deaf boys aged 6-16 who have been living at the Beijing Street Children center between 1 ½ - 2 years as their parents could not be located yet. The Beijing Street Children protection center was set up in August 2003 under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and has since then accommodated more than 2,000 street children from all over China.
The classes will take place 3 times a week, with 2 hours. The first hour will be for deaf children only, and in the second hour hearing children and adult teachers / staff will join in. Students will use a Life Size bear; puppets, storybooks, objects and games to teach whole language, with the goal of showing the children how to be a “proper” deaf person and to become integrate part of the hearing world.
Your gaze pans a room full of kids enthusiastically using a selection of marker pens to create a kaleidoscope of colours – on their very own t-shirts. Each child appears engrossed in the creation of their own artwork. You wonder what they are pondering on as they swish and swoosh their pens...
T-Shirt Day took place Saturday 3 rd June 2006, when the Magic Hospital Team and 70 volunteers visited some 1,500 underprivileged children in 11 special schools, orphanages, street shelters and children's hospitals in and around the Beijing area. Each child received a Magic Box containing: a blank T-Shirt, fabric pens, coloured pencils and paper for practice, a flavoured milk drink and some hand wipes. We wanted to give the kids a day of fun and a distraction to the hardship of their everyday lives. It also gave them a chance to express themselves, and they got to keep the Magic Box and all its contents. Some of these children have never received such presents before, and it was an incredible sight to see so many little faces light up. Together with the volunteers, all kids had a fantastic day, with much laughter and bright smiles shining through.
Migrant Kids Go Ape Over Our Zoo Trip On 4th Outdoorsy Day
"Is an elephant really as big as house? Will we see any man-eating animals?"Magic Hospital gave joy to some 50 poor migrant workers' children during their first visit to the Beijing Zoo on Saturday, March 18. That morning the excited children gathered in the small suburban courtyard of the primitive farmhouse-turned-school, shouting and squirming with the anticipation of seeing animals they'd previously only dreamed about. They were bused into the city, where an amazing 35 volunteers from all over the city and top zoo officials were at the zoo gates to welcome them. Our kids were so thrilled the moment they saw the animals that they often behaved like “slithery fish” trying to slip out of volunteer hands to run to exhibits. They first visited the panda house, then the monkeys, the lions, the wolves, the foxes and the bears. The kids kept up a chorus of shouts and questions while straining against cage bars to get a closer look. It was such a reward to see these joy-deprived children trying to soak up as much of the experience as possible. After lunch the group visited the zoo's animal museum, where the kids were excited that they could make the “ancient animals” howl by touching the knobs on the models. Then off they went to say hello to the giraffes, the snakes and the penguins before enjoying a much-needed ice cream break.
By the end of that delightful day zoo Administrator Wang and Director Xu were waiting at the gates to say farewell to their special guests: “It's hard for us to say good-bye to these lovely and starry-eyed children and to these kind and sympathetic people,” they told us.
We want to thank all the helpful zoo workers, the Red Cross, BFSU and the bus drivers, who together made this trip a great experience!
Chopschticks Crew Raises RMB 30,000RMB for Magic Hospital
The hilarity of Bob Marley and the Chopschticks Comedy Troupe drew laughs, applause and donations of some 30,000 RMB for Magic Hospital in March.
Sunday, March 12 saw a full house at the Icehouse Blues Club in downtown Beijing, where Marley's "Xie Xie" jokes (playing on the Chinese word for "thank you") saw crowds doubled over with laughter.
The comedy troupe showed the true spirit of goodwill by donating 100 percent of the night's ticket costs to Magic Hospital!
On behalf of the children, we want to extend a huge Thank you to Richard and Cherry, the folks behind the Chopschticks Comedy Tour. Xie Xie!
VOK DAMS Moon cake tin events brings more than 5,300RMB for Magic Hospital
VOK DAMS CHINA in Beijing had a great idea: why not celebrate the Chinese mid-autumn festival in its intended spirit, namely as a festival of harmony and good fortune and to bring happiness to those who need it so much more?
They sent out empty moon cake tins to clients and asked them to put their spare change in them. The amazing collection of money will finance the clowns and art teachers for almost 2 months at the Beijing Children's Hospital! A big Thank you to everybody at VOK DAMS CHINA and their clients"
“A night before X-mas” and Santa Claus visits Beijing
“A Night before X'mas” a showcase of showcase of different dance styles, featuring works by DanZCentre's faculty and guests, including Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap and Latin-American dance from Nutcracker to FAME. Over 100 dancers, more than 20 nationalities danced the night away during 60-minute dance extravaganza. All proceeds went to benefit the Magic Hospital .
For the dancshow itself we invited many children from Lang Fang's Children Village , Ping An Medical Foster Home and Blue Sky Healing Home who had a great afternoon.
At the same time Magic Hospital received a generous milk powder donation from DUMEX that MH will further distributed to the above mentioned orphanages and foster homes.
And not enough, but also Santa visited more than 300 children in Beijing Children Hospital , Bei Da hospitals in Beijing and the Guang Ai school, a school for the children of migrant workers.
Santa's Helpers arrived in advance, teaching the children Christmas songs and generating excitement about Santa. Suddenly, ringing bells and a boisterous “Ho, ho, ho” could be heard from the hallway, as the jolly old elf himself burst in, shaking hands with each child. Even through their sickness, pain and other hardships, the joy of the occasion shone through on every child's face.
Santa's special visits would not have been possible without help from many caring and giving people. Santa's helpers included: the Students, faculty and staff at the Continuing Education College of Beijing Foreign Studies University donated more than 300 gifts for the children. Other donations came from Moving Mountains and the Giving Tree project from the Montessori School Beijing, as well as Kathy Anderson, Ted Maloney, Sunny Chen Ping, Sky Jing Chao, Echo Jiao Zhiwei, Susetta Bozzi and Genevieve Heung,
Magic Hospital says a big Thank You and Happy New Year to all!
Third Outdoorsy day goes swimmingly at WAB
More than 150 autistic children, their parents and teachers attended Magic Hospital 's annual Outdoorsy Day on November 5 at the Western Academy of Beijing. The event gave the children and their parents a much-needed opportunity to relax and have fun in the autumn sun. Four large buses were required to transport participants, a testimony to the growing interest among children, parents and teachers to take part in the event. Special thanks to the generosity of WAB, which opened the sprawling international school complex on Saturday and arranged for all transportation.
ManyZ families live in areas outside Beijing and were very excited to take part in the adventure with so many of their peers. Children were running after balls or playing with the very popular large parachute. Teachers and parents played badminton or relaxed on the grass.
And then came the highlight of the Outdoorsy Day event-helping the kids play in the academy's indoor pool. Some children have never been in a swimming pool and, needless to say, thought it was a bit scary at first.
Too soon that the afternoon ended and the children were brought back but only after each child got a MH balloon and candies, just to savor the day a little longer! For more information about Xing Xing Yu the first mainland NGO to aid children with autism.
Theatre for Life - a first trial project of MH Europe is taking shape
For our latest new project Theatre for Life we take the various creative elements of the theatre world and transform them into interactive healing workshops for sick, neglected and abused children, hereby promoting theatre as a tool for therapy and for enjoyment of the adventure of life. Its still a bit in its embryonic stage and we plan to start the pilot project in a hospice/hospital/shelter in Europe – if you have questions or suggestions please don't hesitate to get in touch with us: theatreforlife@magichospital.org
Magic Hospital expands
On May 13th2005, Magic Hospital made the rounds at a second hospital, the Beida Yiyuan. Festivities commenced when we sent in our Chinese clown/magicians to magically lift the dreary fog of pain and boredom and conjure up smiles on faces of patients, parents and staff. We witnessed the transformation of one young boy from sad to glowingly enthusiastic in just a few minutes. Even his father thanked us for the sound of his son's laughter and the twinkle in his eyes that afternoon. It was a rewarding and encouraging afternoon where we could see the fruits of our labor as we watch children and families focus on fun, forgetting about illness and pain for a while.
The Beida yiyuan is a children's hospital affiliated with Beijing University . It is comprised of 4 wards and 132 beds. Magic Hospital sends in regularly the two clowns and an art teacher. More activities will be created and added to our repertoire as we go along with our projects.
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