08 March 2008
CMPi Leadership Development Programme Group 4
The 4th group of volunteers taking part in the Leadership Development Programme has returned from a week working with Doutores da Alegria in Sao Paolo. Doutores da Alegria (Doctors of Joy) places professionally trained clowns in to hospitals to perform for children who are undergoing medical treatment with the intention of reducing the emotionally painful experience for them.
Doutores da Alegria's vision is to build a clown cultural centre / school in the middle of downtown Sao Paulo which will become a centre for clowning excellence and a cultural icon. The centre will provide a sustainable revenue, enabling them to train more clowns which in turn will strengthen their delivery in hospital. Businesses and corporations could also use this centre for their meetings and events, thus making it a place where clowns and public can interact and develop interpersonal relationships. Whilst out on the project volunteers helped to uncover the key processes, systems and structures needed to help them achieve this."Wellington and his team were ecstatic and really moved by how much effort we had put in to this and they seemed to feel what we had done would really start to make their dream head towards reality."
CMPi staff member
"We have learnt so much about managing each other and about how to adapt in such challenging circumstances and deliver a great result in such a short timeline. We have also had a very humbling and life changing experience which we are very thankful for."
CMPi staff member
