Bringing life to the daily lives of hospitalized children

Dear Difteur-ses,

The Kolibri method is rich and stimulates learning and discovery. The resources it elicits are almost infinite: in addition to the travel diaries that enable hospitalized children to "come out" of isolation and learn about the world, our animators offer young patients sensory, artistic and creative experiences linked to the subjects covered in the stories.

Within the child and adolescent psychiatry units of the Centre Hospitalier Guillaume Régnier de Rennes (35), Léonie, our super animator has imagined, created and led a variety of activities every week : with, for example, the tasting of different teas, collage-mandala with seeds, the creation and decoration of maps of the countries traversed by the travelers and superb paper flowers ...

Concentration, pleasure and success without judgment, as well as serene exchanges, are fostered during these sessions where all the senses are stimulated.

And a big thank you to you for your support!

Dear Difteur-ses,

Kolibri enables fragile, socially-suffering young people to engage in dialogue with travelers who have left for the 4 corners of the world: this "digital" dialogue, very much embodied thanks to our animators, sometimes starts in the autumn with a physical meeting, within the hospital, when the travelers are still in France.

Sometimes our young beneficiaries may have the chance to meet their solidarity travelers "in real life" on their return to France.

After more than 2 years abroad (including 8 months of exchanges and sharing about their adventures in New Zealand),Guyonn and Thibault came to visit this Wednesday April 30 the young people accompanied by our association L'enfant@l'hôpital in Lille (Unité Pierre Mâle du CHU Fontan).

What a day! Always cheerful, dynamic and communicative, our "Rendez-vous en terre du milieu" solidarity travelers were able to answer all the questions and challenges posed by the youngsters. They had brought fishing rods, hiking gear, dancing shoes and ... golden sequins!

Very moved by the welcome they received (yum! the cakes were delicious), they were very happy to see the children's pleasure in following them and all the details retained about their journey.

The emotion was palpable: having shared so much and invested in the relationship is always strong and brings so much!"

A big THANK YOU for your support!

Dear Difteurs,

L'enfant @ l'hôpital works in more than a dozen child and adolescent psychiatric units, spread across several French regions.

This month, we're delighted to introduceLilou : this young student leads a cheerful, therapeutic workshop every Thursday at the Les Cigognes Day Hospital, attached to Dijon C.H.U..

In a group of 4 young boys aged 11 or 12, suffering from behavioral, personality or attachment disorders, the objectives of the workshop are multiple:

- Provide a framework thanks to the weekly rhythm.

- Create a lasting relationship, work on social ties and living together: the group balances out, listens to each other and learns to be together.

- Offering an opening onto the world:

Lilou draws on the embodied stories of Pauline and Anne-Flore, two friends from Lyon, who hitchhiked to Jerusalem. Their expedition"L'Odystop" had kicked off in September with a "real-life" visit to the hospital, and the encounter created the first bonds.

Among the many remarkable activities concocted by Lilou, let's note the creation of a large directional sign with arrows for the various countries crossed by the travelers, from Lyon to Jerusalem.

Thank you Lilou, for your dynamism and creativity, your kindness and your great listening skills: your interventions are much appreciated by the children and the care teams.

And a big THANK YOU to you for your support!

Dear Difteurs,

Since mid-October 2024, Lellia has been working every Monday afternoon in the Somato-Psychic Day Hospital for adolescents at the C.H. Intercommunal Lucie & Raymond Aubrac de Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (94) and every Wednesday at the Unité d'Hospitalisation pour Adolescents du sud des Hauts de Seine de l'Hôpital Erasme d'Antony (92).

In these wards, the teenagers' obviously fragile state of health affects their motivation and ability to concentrate: learning becomes more complicated.

Trained in pedagogy, Lellia puts her desire to be useful at the service of young people and helps them have a good time, far from medical treatment. It's through activities that Lellia succeeds in distancing young patients from their own difficulties. Concocting recipes, creating a game board or discovering distant music: here's a small panel of successful activities offered by Lellia!

At Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, youngsters follow the adventures of "Les Latin'as": Audrey and Anaïs are off to discover South America, among friends.

At Antony, it's "Andes-amos" that the teenagers are following: Manon and Robin, a couple of nature-loving engineers, hiking in the Andes after their transatlantic crossing on a tall ship.

Thank you so much for your support, which goes straight to our hearts!

Dear donors,

Thank you so much for your support: your donations are a tremendous encouragement for all our animators who visit children and teenagers hospitalized in psychiatric units every week. ✨

The conditions in which our weekly hospital workshops take place are often very difficult, and our young animators need to be supported and accompanied. The depths of winter are a sensitive time.

In early February,the association organized a day of training and experience-sharing in Paris, in the presence of Christine, art therapist and coach, who has been close to our association for many years.

Angèle, Camille, Capucine, Justine and Lellia (5 of our young animators) were able to take some time for themselves and thus share and exchange under Christine's gentle, caring and positive gaze. Above all, they learned (to re-discover and!) how to capitalize on their unique strengths and skills, to lead and experience their workshops at their best with young patients in great suffering, often isolated. 💜

You are our HEROES of a very complicated daily life for children and adolescents cared for in psychiatric units. 🙏

Dear difteurs,

In 2025, more than 500 young beneficiaries, aged 6 to 20, are accompanied every week by the Association L'enfant@l'hôpital.

For nearly 40 years, the association has been working to give sick, hospitalized or disabled children and teenagers the desire to learn and open up to the world.

The support we offer is totally free of charge for our partner establishments 👍

The benefits are many and varied:

Happy New Year to one and all! 😊

Our project presented on Dift aims to continue our workshops throughout the school year in all the regions and cities where we intervene in hospital psychiatric units: thank you, dear difteurs, for your precious support and donations! ✨

Dear donors,

Arrived at the beginning of October as a Civic Service Volunteer with the association, Camille works every Wednesday afternoon in the Pierre Mâle Unit of the Fontan Hospital at the C.H.U. in Lille (59).

In this child and adolescent psychiatry department, young people are received on an "emergency" basis. Their state of health is really fragile and their stay is often complicated and hectic.

Trained in pedagogy and the Kolibri digital tool on her arrival, Camille puts her energy and great motivation at the service of the youngsters: she tries, despite all their difficulties and suffering, to take them with her to discover the world, and thus bring them a bubble of well-being, exchanges and an opening to the world.

This year, the young patients are following the adventures of the "Rendez-vous en Terre du milieu" expedition: Guyonn and Thibault, a couple of solidarity travelers and volunteers from the L'enfant@l'hôpital association, set off to experience van-life in New Zealand. Well done to you 3 and thank you Camille!

PS/ Our project highlighted on Dift is to continue our workshops throughout the school year, in all the regions and towns where we intervene, in hospitals in psychiatric units.

Dear difteurs,

Our mission with children and teenagers weakened by illness and disability is based on the stories of travelers with big (very big!) heart.

17 expeditions share their adventures every week with the children we accompany all over France, between 2024 and 2025!

As association volunteers, these globe-trotters offer their (precious) time to write the notebooks, publish them on our digital tool KOLIBRI, and respond to messages posted by groups of children or teenagers. Each trip is followed by 3 or 4 groups.

We can't thank them enough: our travelers are exceptional, and some also came to meet the children before they left! Strong bonds are forged: young people, often isolated, exchange ideas, rediscover a taste for relationships and "embark with them" to the other side of the world.

At the Clinic L'escale de Saint-Victoret (13), for example, hospitalized children follow the travel logs of Bryan and Sébastien "Les roues de la liberté". Our two cyclists came to meet hospitalized teenagers in September. In their video presentation, they tell you all about their project > see you between 4:38 and 5:40!"

Our aim is to guarantee the follow-up of our workshops throughout the school year, in all the regions and towns where we intervene in hospital, psychiatric units.

Many thanks to you for your invaluable support and difts!

Dear difteurs,

On October 1, Angèle joined the team of Kolibri animators at the L'enfant@l'hôpital association as a volunteer in Civic Service! For 8 months, she will be working in our partner establishments in the Bouches-du-Rhône region, with children and teenagers made vulnerable by illness or disability.

In child and adolescent psychiatry wards, places where few associations dare to go, Angèle runs 5 workshops each week with young hospitalized Marseillais.Trained in pedagogy and the Kolibri digital tool as soon as she arrived, Angèle brings all her energy and motivation to bear on the well-being of these young people:

Her determination to pass on the travel logs of our globe-trotting solidarity travelers, her joie de vivre and the warmth of her stories delight young patients, opening a wide window on society, the world and its beauties. Bravo and thank you Angèle!

Our aim is to follow up our workshops throughout the school year in all the regions and towns where we work in hospitals and psychiatric wards.

Last Tuesday, September 3, as they do every year, Clémence and Barbara, our employees, went to École polytechnique, to meet the candidate animators for the 2024-2025 school year. 

The association is fortunate to have been a partner of the École polytechnique for over 25 years: every year, it welcomes 5 young students on a 6-month full-time human training period. They are the ones who criss-cross France to visit children and run Kolibri workshops perfectly tailored to their needs.

During the Forum, Clémence and Barbara introduced the young polytechnicians to our mission with vulnerable children all over France and to their future role as animators.

Thank you to Adel, Camille, François, Noé and Siloë, our polytechnician animators from 2023-24 for stopping by to see us on the stand! We are truly grateful and very happy to maintain a strong link with the Polytechnique students, who are very committed and loyal to our association.

The 2023-2024 school year is over: it's also the summer break for Kolibri workshops in our partner hospital establishments all over France.

At the association, June is a festive month: the last workshops are always the occasion for a few snacks, and the "good-byes" to the solidarity travelers (who have exchanged and shared their adventures with the children), often take the form of video-testimonials, videoconferences or better still... visits within the groups of beneficiary children!

For example, on their return to France, the "Tongs et Bottes" expedition travelers went to Dijon on Thursday June 20, and the "Happy et Compagnie" family visited Limoges on Tuesday June 25. Beautiful, joyful moments of sharing and gratitude after more than 9 months of warm exchanges!

For its part, the association's team is taking advantage of the break in the Kolibri workshops to actively prepare for the new school year: our CAPTAIN CAUSE project aims to perpetuate Kolibri workshops in 2024-2025 in all the child psychiatric units that the association accompanies throughout France.

Thank you to all our Captains and patrons who are working alongside us to combat the isolation and learning difficulties of these young patients!

L'enfant@l'hôpital's 2023 general ordinary meeting was held on March 27. It provided an opportunity to highlight its actions and its development dynamic: in an economic context that remains difficult and uncertain, the association has opened 18 new workshopsout of the 93 dispensed throughout France.

Congratulations to Claire Bach, our new President: a polytechnician and former children's animator, Claire has been involved with us for 7 years.

"My encounter with the association came about in 2017: I was then an animator for 6 months with young people in Toulouse, Cambrai, Creil or Eragny-sur-Oise. Since then I've been a traveler, vice-president and now president.

What I like about the asso is this constant adjustment of the team to carry out its central mission: to enable children and young people to learn while having fun and discovering the world, no matter where they are in France!"

PS/ Our Captain Cause project aims to continue our workshops throughout the school year in all the regions and towns where we intervene in hospital psychiatric units: thanks to all our Captains and patrons who support us! 

Every Thursday and Friday, Isabel and Lucie, our young entertainers, travel to Brittany, to run workshops with children and teenagers on the day hospitalization units at the Guillaume Régnier hospital in Rennes (35).

These young patients, often suffering from new pathologies, considered to be psychic or mental handicaps of varying severity (precocity, school phobias, hyperactivity, eating or behavioral disorders, depression, addictions, suicidal crises,...) are all in great suffering.

Our workshops, tailored to their specific difficulties and needs, are an opportunity for them to:

During these sessions, young beneficiaries discover the world through the adventures of the "Crabe-Total, le retour" expedition: Laetitia, Benjamin, Oren and Liah, a family set off on a round-the-world trip in October 2023. 

This is also an opportunity for the children to carry out manual and artistic activities linked to the travelers' discoveries! 

See how they made the paper lanterns, inspired by those of the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand.