Transforming hospital experiences – how dream rooms bring joy to young cancer patients

An example of a dream room. (Photo: Michelle Banda)

24 Oct 2024

Created to inspire hope in young cancer patients, Dream Rooms provide a much-needed escape in hospitals, offering fun, joy, and emotional healing. As these spaces continue to expand across South Africa, their impact on children and families facing life-threatening illnesses is undeniable.

The Dream Rooms at the Zakithi Nkosi Clinical Haematology Centre at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto are more than just playrooms – they are a lifeline. Designed specifically for young cancer patients, the rooms provide a space for children to have fun, dream, and forget their hospital surroundings, even if just for a little while.

Six years ago, the Reach for a Dream Foundation, in partnership with donors, began creating these dream rooms to offer comfort and joy to children battling life-threatening diseases. The first rooms, launched at Chris Hani Baragwanath’s Paediatric Oncology Ward, were sponsored by the Vukile Property Fund and named in memory of Darren Serebro, who lost his battle with leukaemia at the age of 23 in 1997.

dream rooms young cancer patients Inside a dream room are activities for various children’s age groups, from colouring books and a jungle gym to the internet, computer access and virtual access activities, taking the child to their dreamland. (Photo: Michelle Banda)

The idea behind dream rooms was simple but powerful. As Mervyn Serebro, former chairman of the Reach for a Dream Foundation and Darren’s father, explains:

“Hospitals are not friendly places. There are machines, [they are] fairly cold, places that are inordinately busy dealing with sick people across the whole spectrum, and families of patients have almost nowhere to sit and just be a family. There is a coffee shop and you just can’t overstay your visit in a coffee shop – some hospitals don’t even have one.

“When my son was ill and in hospital for 16 months out of two years, wherever you were you were in the way of either the cleaning staff, nurses, or doctors because you were sitting in a corridor outside your child’s ward and in and out of the ward whenever you are able to be with your child.

“This makes hospitals not conducive to family interactions and we decided we would like to create a space that is going to be age-appropriate in each hospital where children and their families can be families. These spaces cater differently to various groups of children.”

dream rooms sebrero (Photo: Michelle Banda)

Inside a dream room are activities for various children’s age groups, from colouring books and a jungle gym to the internet, computer access and virtual access activities, taking the child to their dreamland. .

According to Serebro; “When we first started the dream rooms which were launched six years ago … at our 30th-anniversary dinner of the foundation I spoke about the need to provide a special place for children in every hospital and I said my dream is to create that sort of space in every hospital in South Africa and I dreamed that we will then create 30 dream rooms.

“And we received an unbelievable response and support from our guests at that event which hosted about 1,000 people at Emperor’s Palace and that is where we raised donations for the establishment of the first set of dream rooms and built about 35 between then and the 35th anniversary of the foundation.”

Now there are 46 dream rooms across the country and Reach For A Dream Foundation is set to launch eight more dream rooms in hospitals across South Africa by the end of 2024.

These new additions will be located at Tygerberg Hospital, St Joseph’s Intermediate Paediatric Care, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Pholosong Hospital and Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital.

Serebro recalls his dream of 30 dream rooms as naive, considering the size of many of these hospitals and the need.

“You need more than one dream room in the different sections of the hospitals. However, not all are the same, in some, one could be dependent on what they treat, a prerequisite being a facility that treats life-threatening illnesses.”

Disconnecting from trauma

According to Dr Thandeka Ngcana, a paediatric medical oncologist based in Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, dream rooms provide a much-needed escape for young patients.

She said, “It’s a space they use to disconnect from the trauma of being in a hospital.

“These spaces help children cope with the emotional and physical challenges of cancer treatment. This space provides a comforting and engaging environment. Dream rooms significantly improve the quality of life for children with cancer.

dream rooms cancer An example of a dream room. (Photo: Michelle Banda)

“It’s a space where kids can be kids and engage intimately with each other. It assists with managing the anxiety associated with prolonged hospitalisation. It’s a place where they can dream. It’s like Alice’s Wonderland.”

Parents with children battling life-threatening illnesses have concurred that dream rooms make a difference in their children’s lives.

“The dream room is very helpful to my daughter. She can forget about her sickness and pains and be able to make friends. I can say we appreciate Reach for a Dream. It was a very happy and productive day. She is now exposed to different new games that interest her,” said one parent.

dream rooms An example of a dream room. (Photo: Michelle Banda)

Another parent said: “The hospital is not an ideal place to be in. The dream room sort of takes you away from the hospital for a few hours. The dream room as a whole is the highlight of his day.”

“I’m grateful for the room and edutainment you guys do for our children. It’s very safe for our kids, Our kids learn new things. She was sad when going to the clinic but after she came to the room she was very excited,” said another.

Realising dreams

Outside the dream room programme, since 1988, the Reach For A Dream Foundation has brought hope, joy, and healing to countless children by encouraging them to use their dreams to fight life-threatening illnesses. As of December 2023, the organisation has realised more than 27,670 dreams since 1988.

Isabella Esterhuyse (10) from East London in the Eastern Cape, is one of the latest beneficiaries of the Dreams programme. Esterhuyse’s dream of being a Springbok mascot came true last month as she escorted the team into the Mbombela Stadium, singing the national anthem with her heroes in front of 40,000 supporters and cheering them on in their encounter against Argentina.

After the team’s resounding 48-7 victory over the Pumas clinched them the Rugby Championship, Isabella returned to the pitch to hand the trophy to Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and celebrate with the players.

Isabella is battling stage-three soft tissue sarcoma.

Research by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggests that worldwide, more than 275, 000 children and adolescents (aged up to 19 years old) are estimated to be diagnosed with cancer every year. This ranges from leukaemia to brain cancers, and lymphomas.

Currently, between 800 and 1,000 children born in South Africa are diagnosed with cancer annually. However, it’s estimated that half of the children with cancer in South Africa are never diagnosed owing to a lack of awareness and knowledge in parts of the health system regarding the early warning signs of childhood cancer, and of those that are diagnosed, only a few survive.

While dream rooms are no cure for life-threatening illnesses like cancer, they ignite purpose and hope in children battling these diseases – a source of upliftment to support them in their fight. DM

You can make a lasting difference in the life of a child battling a life-threatening illness by helping make their dream come true. Whether through donating, volunteering your time, or referring a child in need of hope and encouragement, your support can be the spark of joy and strength they need during their toughest fight.

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Disconnecting from trauma

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