Toufoula is a Lebanese non-governmental organization which was founded in 2006 by a group of concerned volunteers sharing the same goal: drawing a smile on the faces of young children suffering from cancer and blood diseases. Our main aim is to create a positive, warm and cheerful environment for ill children to alleviate their pain from treatment, make them feel happier and give them back some of the hope they have lost. We aim to fulfill this by holding entertainment and educational activities and increasing public awareness of the threats of cancer, and most importantly by enhancing the environment at the hospital wards of children. This is the main goal behind the Dream Rooms project.
The Dream Rooms aim at making the children’s stay at the hospital as pleasant as possible, and changing their perspective of hospitals. The rooms are painted with happy and lively colors and are equipped with toys, sources of entertainment and communication opportunities. The purpose is to spread a cozy and warm atmosphere similar to home, where the children can dream instead of worry. Because distraction is the best therapy and stress reliever, this is a space for children to live their fantasies and dream of a better tomorrow.
Toufoula organizes art therapy workshops as well, to entertain children and divert their attention from their pain. We help create an atmosphere of optimism and hope among the children and their families and constitute a let-out for the children to express what they are feeling through art.
Toufoula constantly organizes different types of fundraising activities in order to ensure financing for its Dream Rooms project. We have succeeded so far in implementing our project in the pediatric cancer wards of 3 hospitals: Hotel Dieu, Rafik Hariri University Hospital and Makassed General Hospital.
Currently, the pediatric cancer ward at Notre Dame De Secours Hospital and Jeitawi Hospital are being transformed as well through generous donations. With the right support and sufficient means, we are also hoping to expand our project to encompass all hospitals across Lebanon and abroad. As a non-profit organization, Toufoula also relies on donations from individuals, private institutions, and sponsors, as well as grants from foundations. “When we dream alone, it is just a dream. When we dream with others, it is the beginning of reality.”
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