In hardly any other place are joy of life and death so close together. Children’s hospice nurses like Nico P. (40) experience this every day in their work with terminally ill children. What moves them and what gives them strength? An exhibition by the Humanist Association gives the nursing heroes a voice.
Nico P. throws Emily (4) onto a colorful water bed with a flourish. She laughs and enjoys the gentle movements. The girl has been coming to the “Berliner Herz” children’s hospice every day for two and a half years. She is waiting for a place in an integration day-care center – until then she is literally being taken care of by curative education nurse Nico.
He has been caring for children like Emily for three years. Children, some of whom are physically and mentally handicapped and need a lot of love and care. He gives them food, changes their diapers and plays with them. His best payment: a child’s smile.
The topic of death is omnipresent in the hospice. But Nico says: “Children’s hospice is not just about dying. It’s a beautiful place.” There are children for whom the doctors’ diagnosis is wrong. Small fighters also die here regularly. Saying goodbye again and again is not easy for him.
Nico P.: “Of course I’m crying. But when I see some of our guests suffer for a long time, I’m also happy when they made it.”
It is particularly difficult for him to talk to children about death.
Depending on his age and cultural background, he approaches the topic differently: “I often tell them that we live in a bubble and that at some point we won’t be there anymore. Today, however, we are lucky enough to still be here and to experience beautiful things.” It is the moment that counts.
Five children are currently coming to the “Berliner Herz” every day. Three are cared for around the clock on a full-time basis. 34 full-time employees like Nico and eight volunteers are there for them.
In the exhibition “Faces and Voices in Children’s Hospice Work” portraits and quotes from employees like Nico will be shown until February 18th.
Karl-Marx-Allee 66, Friedrichshain, open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m
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Donation account Humanistic Association Berlin-Brandenburg KdöR
IBAN: DE 48 1002 0500 0003 136467
Keyword: TKHA 2022