The Reach For A Dream Foundation has unveiled a new Dream Room at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital Paediatric Clinic in partnership with Medtronic. The addition brings the total number of Dream Rooms across the country to 58, aimed at creating spaces where children awaiting treatment can find comfort and relaxation during their clinic visits.
This new Dream Room aims to provide children awaiting treatment with a sanctuary for healing and relaxation from the reality of their illness. Equipped with interactive games, books, toys and virtual reality experiences, these spaces aim to provide much-needed relief from the clinical setting, allowing children to engage in imaginative play, social interaction and creative exploration, says the foundation.
Each Dream Room is facilitated by psychology graduates trained in Early Childhood Development (ECD), aimed at ensuring that children receive guided support through carefully curated activities. These trained professionals hope to help young patients reach their developmental milestones, while fostering resilience and emotional wellbeing during their visits to the clinic.
"We're grateful to Medtronic for partnering with us in transforming this clinic into a space that brings children joy and healing, safety and care while receiving treatment. The educational books, toys and activities guided by our interns will help make the nurses and doctors' jobs easier," says Chloe Katompa, Head of Operations at Reach For A Dream.
"Reach For A Dream's purpose aligns closely with Medtronic's, we aim to restore health, alleviate pain and extend life. This Dream Room allows us to do that for children in hospital and give them a chance to be children. Thank you to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital and Reach For A Dream teams for helping us make this a reality," says Nazley Bayat, HR Manager at Medtronic.
"Reach For A Dream does important work for our children. Their impact is seen in hospitals across the province and country at large. We hope the Foundation continues to grow and make more dreams come true," says Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, Gauteng MEC for Health.
Reach For A Dream concludes that it remains committed to expanding this initiative by aiming to create safe and inspiring spaces that help children believe in a brighter future. Dream Rooms aim to be a place of joy, imagination and resilience, where healing becomes a positive and transformative journey for them and their families.
For more information, visit www.reachforadream.org.za. You can also follow Reach For A Dream on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of Facebook