For 30 years, the Rêves de Théodora doctors have been brightening up the corridors of Swiss pediatric wards to bring smiles to hospitalized children. The foundation celebrates its anniversary through an exhibition at the CHUV which retraces its journey.
To make the patients of the pediatric ward laugh, Dr. Rêve Méli Mélo has more than one trick up its sleeve. “Our main mission is that the child feels better after our visit,” she explains Thursday in the 12:45 of the RTS.
“That is to say that he is more relaxed, that he has regained a little the taste for playing and his child’s energy”, continues the artist.
Méli Mélo is one of the 72 artists of Theodora Foundation. Each year, they make 100,000 visits to all the hospitals in the country. In 30 years, more than 2 million children have benefited from the magic of Doctors Dreams.
The first visits to the CHUV in 1993
Guest Thursday in the 12:30 of the RTS, André Poulie, one of the founders of the foundation, remembers the first visit, at the CHUV in April 2023. “There were almost more hospital staff than children to see doctors Bobo and Panosse.”
At that time, no one imagined the process growing and gaining such magnitude. However, the members of the foundation already had the support and confidence of the healthcare team. “Initially, we were offered to make our visits to the kindergarten, then little by little, we were able to tour the bedrooms”, remembers André Poulie.
>> Listen to André Poulie’s interview on the 12:30 p.m. program
The Evolution of the Doctors of Dreams Costume
To celebrate its anniversary, the foundation retraces its journey through a photo exhibition at the CHUV. The visitor can see the evolution of the costumes of the Doctors of Dreams.
Tamara Attali, communications officer for the foundation, presents the current doctor’s blouse Rêves to the RTS: “There, we really have beautiful touches of color which make the children laugh a lot.”
For the future, the foundation is moving towards support for care or even towards the creation of an “emergency dreams” program, intended to accompany young patients in the evening in pediatric emergencies.
The model of these visits has been exported and also copied abroad. Through registered foundations, Théodora is particularly active in England, Spain, Italy, Turkey and even Hong Kong.
TV subject and radio interview: Claire Eckersley and Coralie Claude
Adaptation web: Miroslav Mares
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