They all hope that dreams will come true in the newly opened Dream Room at the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein.
Reach for a Dream with the financial assistence of Truworths, opened the first Dream Room in the Free State on Thursday (25/05).
Kerry Donkin of Reach for a Dream says this is one of 40 Dream Rooms that have sprung up in hospitals all around South Africa.
“The idea to create rooms for children with serious illnesses in hospitals where they can play, interact and dream were born at the 30th celebration of Reach for a Dream five years ago,” she explains.
“Each space is unique with a theme to capture children’s imaginations.”
Dr. Rita Nathan, head of the clinical department of Universitas Academic Hospital, says it is heart warming to partner with an organisation like Reach for a Dream.
“We are very excited about the new Dream Room,” she said before the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“When a child is born, the parents have dreams for that child. When they get seriously sick and are admitted to hospital for treatment, the parents’ dreams vanish and they only focus is on getting their child healthy again.
“The opening of this space is symbolic of dreams being born and children and their parents starting to dream again about the future.”
She also says it is symbolic that the children’s ward is on the top floor of Universitas, meaning that the Dream Room is on this tenth floor – closest to the stars.
Kerry says for the Bloemfontein Dream Room, they chose a camping theme to give the children a bit of the outdoors inside.
“Many of them spend weeks or months in the ward getting treatment. This is a wonderful place for them to get out of their beds and play.”
The moment the ribbon was cut and children of the ward was allowed into their new Dream Room, it was clear that it was the perfect environment for them – some immediately taking to the colouring books on a small table.
The Free State dream room is the fourth room that Truworths has sponsored. They also sponsored the first Dream Room in KwaZulu-Natal as well as the first one in the Northern Cape in Kimberley that opened in 2021 in the Robert Sobukwe Hospital.
