Although my companion can’t cure the disease like anti-cancer drugs, I still hope that every time I tell it, I can remind the children of this special time, except for cold medical equipment, In addition to the difficult chemotherapy process, there will be some heart-warming stories and pleasant afternoons.
I think this is enough.
I saw them for the first time. They were a group of little bald heads who were seriously ill but eager for joy.
My name is He Shuting. I am a children's educator and the mother of a 6-year-old boy. My job is mainly responsible for the early education of infants from 0 to 3 years old, as well as the development direction courses for 0 to 3 years old of university preschool education.
In early education, picture books are a multi-functional educational medium that can not only develop reading skills, but also an effective way for high-quality parent-child companionship.
At the beginning of 2019, I applied to join the Sunflower Children Volunteer and became a sunflower seed. After that, I started the volunteer service at Oncology Department of Kunming Children's Hospital of , and took the children to swim in the ocean of stories.
On January 24, I participated in the Sunflower Children's volunteer activity for the first time. Before entering the oncology ward, the medical social worker of the Sunflower Social Work Station told me that children with tumors cannot play regular children’s games, they cannot run or jump, and their hands cannot move too much, so our volunteer activities are relatively static. , Need to match their physical condition.
Before this, I also participated in the voluntary service of other charity organizations, but it was actually the first time I came into contact with children with cancer. The most profound feeling at that time was that after coming to the oncology department, they were basically bald heads, because they received chemotherapy and had severe hair loss.
walked into the ward for the first time, and I could feel that in their small bodies, they were suffering very heavy pain, but above this heavy, they showed the kind that we humans would have. Innocence.
They are very eager to participate in such activities. They yearn to be able to play, share and interact with others just like normal children.
Even though they are more suffering from the discomfort caused by the treatment, they still have the innocence of the child.
He Shuting and the small patient
in the Oncology Department of Kunming Children's Hospital do not say goodbye, but hope to see each other again in the hospital
Since the beginning of 2019, my colleagues and I are also sunflower children volunteers, and come to the oncology department every Thursday afternoon. Read picture books to children.
Compared with the children in the oncology department, although sometimes their children are naughty and really angry, but they think that their bodies are growing in a healthy way. This is already a very beautiful thing, and it will be even worse. , And know how to be grateful.
Especially teachers with children, our biggest feeling is to be very grateful for the life we currently have, or that this life is actually a gift and happiness.
I have a habit. Every time I come here to read picture books to children, I never say goodbye to them. Goodbye is a way of saying goodbye, but I really don't want to see them in the hospital again.
I hope that after listening to this picture book, their illness will heal, and we don’t need to be here and see each other again. So every time I leave, I never say goodbye to them.
He Shuting reads picture books for children in the ward He Shuting reads picture books for children in the ward
In these days of reading picture books to children, what impressed me the most is that once I met a seven or eight-year-old boy who was very thin and tall. It was the second time I saw him that day, and also It was the first time that I met a child with such a strong emotion.
at the timeThe situation is that the other children are relatively quiet, sitting in the seats, or listening to us reading the picture book while taking a needle. It may be because he had a severe physiological reaction in the late stage of chemotherapy.
He cried very nervously, saying that he was particularly uncomfortable, and he always vomited. After vomiting, he felt hungry and wanted to eat, but he vomited again after eating. He begged his mother not to get injections and not to do treatment.
This is completely different from my impression of seeing him for the first time. Because the last time I read him a picture book, he was a very mature little boy who knew a lot, especially about science.
For example, when I talked about "gravity", he can go on to talk about what he understands about gravity. But that day, the child completely broke down.
I am a more emotional person. I have imagined such a scene before, and thought that if I encounter such a scene, I should empathize with my child and cry with him. However, when this scene really happened, I did not cry, nor did I tell him a story, I just walked over and hugged him.
I kept my arms around him and told him that after this injection, the doctor will give you another injection to stop vomiting, so that you can stop vomiting temporarily and feel better.
In this process, I feel that I am not a volunteer or someone who has come to read stories to them. I feel that I am a mother, exuding motherhood.
I kept patting him like I was comforting my own child. Later, his mood eased a lot, and then his mother said: "If you agree to the injection now, I will call the nurse aunt, and we will stop vomiting first. After the needle is given, you will not feel so uncomfortable, and then you can eat.”
Later, when I recalled this experience, I found that through this connection and interaction with him, he calmed down his emotions and my heart On the contrary, it is very calm and calm.
When we, as volunteers, accompany such children with special experiences and special pains, we need resoluteness in our hearts.
may be uncomfortable for you, but in the scene at the time, you need to use a stronger heart to care for these children who are no longer so strong.
He Shuting tells the picture books for the children in the ward
Let the children and their parents immerse themselves in beautiful stories, forget the troubles and pains
Before entering the ward for the first time, I thought a lot. Is there such or that kind of conflict? Or are they more psychologically resistant? Or maybe they are not in good health and don't have so much energy to listen to stories?
But after seeing them, I actually treat them more as normal children, no different from the children outside the ward.
Every time I enter the ward, I will say to the children: "Hello, I am here to read stories again. Today, would you like to know what good stories I brought you?" Or say: "I brought two books today , Which story do you want to hear?" Interact based on their responses.
Reading picture books for children with tumors requires some arrangements and selection. At the beginning, I will start with emotions and take the children to better understand emotions, let them accept that they have a variety of emotions, and try to sort and classify their own emotions. Some picture books in the later period of
will incorporate more things that make them feel good and yearning. Perhaps it is a very ordinary story.
"Mr. Panda" series of picture books
This is a picture book about etiquette, but the story unfolds like a cold joke. Mr. Panda is always expressionless and calm to make some contributions and dedication to his friends. Although it looks cold, his friends will feel warm because of what he has done, whether it is a huge donut, Little panties that don’t fit anyhow... They are all loving and polite.
can feel the warmth of emotional communication and interaction after the funny scene.
may be boring for adults, but children will find it very interesting. The children have gained stories from my telling, and I have gained healing from my getting along with them.
usually have a lot of annoying things at work, but when we read picture books, we support each other. In this hour, my children and I can purely feel the world in the story. This pure time is actually very rare and precious for adults.
It is worth mentioning that the parents of children with children, sometimes they listen to stories more fascinated than the children, which makes me feel very pleased.
Maybe this is the role of volunteers. We can’t use professional methods to eliminate the physical pain of children like doctors, but at least we can use storytelling every week to immerse children and parents in beautiful stories. , Forget about troubles and illnesses, and get a chance to breathe.
In addition to cold medical equipment, there are heart-warming stories and happy afternoons.
Sunflower children have a lot of sunflower seeds with a biomedical background. They can write a lot of professional science popularization of children’s tumors, and parents can know what their children are. What kind of disease is it? Volunteers like me who are "accompaniment-type" bring "heart and heart" care to the children.
He Shuting and his son
cancer brought the pain of these children, I can help them alleviate with spiritual companionship, so that their spiritual needs are also respected.
I may not be able to appreciate the suffering that children endure, but I feel that in a loving scene, with a professional company, such as through picture books, children can swim in their own spiritual world. Even for children with tumors, even during chemotherapy, what about? They can enter a whole new world through this approach, just like all normal children.
Although my accompaniment cannot be as effective as anti-cancer drugs, I still hope that every time I tell it, I can remind the children of this hospitalization time, except for the cold medical equipment, In addition to the difficult chemotherapy process, there will be some heart-warming stories and pleasant afternoons. I think this is enough.
dictation | He Shuting
finishing & typesetting | Boya
responsible editor | Yiyi
proofreading | dog
