Equipped with a costume red nose and whimsical props, an Israeli professional development manager is bringing smiles to refugees fleeing Ukraine - as a clown.
Nimrod Eisenberg works with the nonprofit organization The Dream Doctors Project Israel, where he has been moonlighting as a “medical clown” - a professional who provides patients with therapeutic performances in order to promote their wellbeing.
“Today we are clowning - using this wonderful tool of the red nose - to bring joy and laughter to the children and families of refugees right here on the border between Poland and Ukraine,” Eisenberg says.
“As medical clowns, we reach children and families that are in need and bring playfulness, laughter, and these kinds of activities into their daily routines, into their difficult times,” he adds.
Eisenberg and his team meet with thousands of refugees daily along the border to brighten their day and provide a spark of joy for the families whose lives were upended by Russia’s invasion of the country.
“Just the fact of meeting a clown, a colorful character, in the middle of this chaos can change the way children emotionally react to what’s happening around them,” Eisenberg says.
“They see so many strangers every day. The clowns are positive strangers, colorful strangers - the ones who really just want to bring them joy.”