“Caring for a child is not just about caring for their body, it’s about caring for their dreams.”
Dr. Gaziella Raimondo, Head Physician at the Children’s Hospital of Margency
A dose of happiness without borders for little patients
Paint a Smile is a non-profit organization based in Geneva. Since 2000, its mission is to brighten up medical environments by decorating the walls and ceilings with illustrations and colorful adhesives, specially designed for these places. These decorations aim to contribute to the well-being of young patients by softening their stays, often experienced as traumatic, and to reassure visitors by de-dramatizing the hospital environment. The medical and nursing staff also say they benefit directly from these cartoons: it allows them to provide care between colorful walls with characters that invite smiles. The decorations help to distract and divert the attention of sick children, thus becoming a real therapeutic tool. To date, the professionals mandated by the Foundation have already carried out 183 projects in 18 countries around the world.
Tender wall stories and a fun tropical world
The themes of the jungle and the ocean floor, carefully chosen by the Foundation’s talented artists and the medical team, invite calm and exchange. The frescoes have been specially designed according to the specific needs of the establishment, in order to be adapted to the hospital environment. The corridors and rooms of the pediatric intensive care unit tell stories in pictures. Nothing is left to chance: the sketches are made after careful consideration and the places are meticulously decorated and transformed into spaces filled with tenderness, poetry or even humor. Many animals subtly participate in the signage of the place. For example, if you look closely at the walls and ceilings, you can see the unit’s cute mascot, a little squirrel, which children and hospital staff often see in the hospital garden. For the staff, it was essential to bring the squirrel into their daily lives and those of the patients.
Project to decorate the pediatric intensive care unit at the HUG
The inauguration of the frescoes took place on June 28, 2018 at the University Hospitals of Geneva, after seven weeks of sustained work rhythm, carried out by a team consisting of four muralist painters. This project was made possible thanks to the Aletheia Foundation, a major financial contributor, as well as the Rotary Club of Geneva. The commitment of Caran d’Ache, a generous color partner of the Paint a Smile Foundation, which provided all the paints necessary for the realization of the decorations, should also be highlighted.
For each new mission, the Paint a Smile Foundation has to look for new patrons to enable it to carry out projects such as the one at the HUG. There are still a great number of projects to be realized, whether for hospitals, living areas or other specialized institutions. You too can support the Foundation through your donations or simply by talking about these beautiful and colorful projects around you.
By Delphine Bindschaedler