Thank you for bringing us joy!

“Thank you for bringing us joy,” a mother says to us in the small interior square of the Hospital del Niño in Lima. It´s where young people from Europe who are on mission in Peru, spend their mornings as volunteers. What do they do? They arrive with some paintbrushes, paint, and sheets of paper… and invite the children to color in, or make braids, or paint drawings on their faces… The children quickly sign up for one thing or the other, or everything.

There are sick children who come, while they wait for their appointment, but often their siblings as well, if their mother has no one to leave them with. They spend the whole morning or all day there waiting for their turn. That long wait is hard for them. Some come from an examination that was unpleasant for them. And suddenly, in this little square, they regain their joy. The colors fascinate them and they forget why they are here. They are the center of attention of these young people and this makes them regain their deep value. The mothers look at them with tenderness and heartbreaking relief. And so they begin to tell us about their lives.

Context

Many come from the interior of the country since there are no specialized hospitals in the provinces and have had to quit their jobs. Just being able to tell us what they are going through helps them to let off steam and seeing their children happy brings joy back to them too. A mother stays with us most of the morning. Her daughter has already seen the doctor, she could return home since she still has a long journey ahead. But she stays. Her daughter has been given chalk and is drawing on the floor and she is happy. This girl has to come to the hospital often for her check-ups. It’s good that for once, she can enjoy being here! The floor is filled with drawings… We hope the cleaning team don’t get angry.

A little can do so much

The square has become an oasis within this place, which for many is the way of the cross. It seems that parents suddenly have all the time in the world to be there and regain their strength. Many thank us: “There aren’t many people who dedicate time for them like this, thank you for bringing us joy.”

We feel rather helpless. What we do in the face of so much suffering and so much need seems so little to us. We have heard such tough stories! But the children’s parents are the ones who remind us that even if it seems little to us, it is a lot. Just like Veronica’s gesture towards Jesus on the road to Calvary. If we could only realize just how much good we can do! Sometimes it takes so little…, and we don’t dare to do that little that we can.