Spending a month introducing play to a children's ward in Kimberley, South Africa, proved to be a rewarding challenge. The hospital is twinned with John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where I work as a play specialist.
My role was to help Annelise, a South African nurse, implement the play techniques she had observed during a six-month placement in Oxford.
On arrival I was shocked to find that children, aged from birth to 12 years, spent the majority of their hospital stay in cots with no stimulation. Nursing staff did not encourage the children to interact with each other and have fun. Bright murals on the walls appeared to be the only attempt to ease the children's stay.
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