The two, members of Israel’s nationwide Dream Doctors medical clowning project, traveled to the Subcontinent at the invitation of Israeli Consul General Orna Segev.

Medical clowns Suzi (on the left) and Pomadora  (on the rigth) visiting Mumbai hospitals Rambam Health Care Campus

The pair’s Indian sojourn was packed with emotional activities and experiences, “Suzi” reports. For five days, they visited Mumbai hospitals, shelters, and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Everywhere they went, they drew on the grace, charm and attractiveness natural to clowns to make non-verbal connections with the locals.

 “Suzi” relates that at the over 2,000-bed KEM government hospital and at Tata Memorial Hospital, the latter of which serves adult and pediatric oncology patients, they lectured to departmental medical staffs, introducing them to basic medical clowning skills. “The staff members were not previously familiar with medical clowning,” she says. “Our conversations and lectures mainly dealt with working methods and with our ‘I believe’ doctrine, which were received with great enthusiasm. Based on our visit, the government hospital has requested a program for training local medical clowns.”

Medical clown Suzi with local patients at Mumbai  hospitals Rambam Health Care Campus

She further reports that she and “Pomadora” stopped at the Don Bosco Orphanage, which shelters street children aged 5-15. This meeting quickly became a party that the kids will not forget for a long time, she says, adding, “As clowns curious to meet them, we gave them a stage. We danced and laughed with them, played together, and had a lot of fun! Our goal was to empower the children, and I think that especially, we gave and received human warmth.”

Also on the clowns’ itinerary was a visit to a disadvantaged Mumbai quarter, where “Suzi” and “Pomadora” performed for enchanted preschool children and wandered through the streets. The local media accompanied them in order to document the colorful and unusual activity in the neighborhood.