San Giovanni Rotondo: A baking workshop for children hospitalized in the Oncology Department

LABORATORY FOR CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL

Small bakers they grow, even in hospital. In the laboratory of the department of Pediatric Oncohematology of the IRCSS Institute House for Relief of Suffering di San Giovanni Rotondo, children of different ages, united by the same sufferings, prepare bread and cookies, They bake and eat their delicacies together, infusing their recipes with a generous dose of lightheartedness. This important project allows them to alleviate the long hospital stays they experience during treatment.

The smell of bread and the satisfaction of seeing their little loaves being baked fills children and their parents with joy and allows them, for a few hours, to put their illness aside.

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CHILDREN'S WORKSHOP - HOUSE FOR THE RELIEF OF SUFFERING

It all started when Anthony Wax, a baker with a degree in Economics, decided to set up a small laboratory bread for the residents of the Apulian research center. The inventor of this project has been committed for years to promoting the culture of quality bread, including through the Futurist Bread Association of San Marco in Lamis, in the Foggia area. Hence the idea of ​​starting a collaboration with the director of Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza and with a number of the facility's managers: the head of Pediatric Oncology, the head of Pediatrics general and the director of the private hospital school. A great opportunity that fits into a context already rich in training activities dedicated to young patients. The goal is to ensure their right to education and recreational activities in order to humanize the care they undergo.

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PEDIATRIC ONCOHEMATOLOGY LABORATORY IRCSS

According to Antonio Cera, this initiative doesn't just serve to distract the pediatric ward's residents. In fact, the children not only learn preparation techniques bread but also the rules for healthy eatingThe first experience went so well that, within a few meetings, it became a permanent laboratoryOne proof of this is the great appreciation shown by the young bakers. The first workshop was supposed to last two hours, but after three and a half hours spent with their hands in the dough, the children didn't want to put it aside. aprons and rolling pins. A success that surprised the medical staff and the hospital clowns. The treatment of these serious illnesses, in fact, must also include moments of creativity and leisure and thanks to this workshop each little patient can show their classmates distribution and to adults what it is made of.

(The images are taken from the Facebook page of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza hospital)

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