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Les Docteurs ZinZins
Clowns at the children's hospital. Since 1992, Zinzin, Carabistouille and their colleagues have roamed the corridors and rooms of the HUDERF in Brussels to meet sick children.
Donate to the ZinZins Support through Table 12
Who are they?
Much more than entertaining: they take part in the care.
The Docteurs ZinZins are a team of professional artists from varied backgrounds, each of whom has built a unique clown character. Trained in listening, acting and clowning and in approaching sick children, they work in a hospital setting that is often austere and stressful — and transcend it.
“They adapt to every situation and transcend it, to rekindle the spark of hope and life hidden within the sick child and their parents.”
The ZinZins in figures
1992
first steps at the HUDERF
12
clowns in the team
7
wards visited every week
100
children and their families each week
8 000+
visits a year
A typical day
What does a visit look like?
The HUDERF, opened in 1986, is the only Belgian university hospital entirely dedicated to children. Every week, the ZinZins visit around a hundred children and their families there.
The morning meeting
With the educators and psychologists: which children are here today, in what state, with what needs? Every visit is prepared.
The parade and the visits
A musical parade through the ward, then one-to-one encounters, room by room: a tailor-made mini-celebration in which the child is the lead actor — sometimes even the director.
The debriefing
At the end of the day, the team goes over each encounter to adjust the next visits.
The wards visited
Haemato-oncology Day hospital Nephrology & dialysis Surgery Medicine Intensive care Emergency
Their history
More than thirty years of acrobatics of the imagination
1992
Renelde Liégeois and Patrick Beckers, professional clown artists, create Les Docteurs ZinZins — Zinzin and Carabistouille. Three wards of the HUDERF welcome them.
2016
Exchanges with Romania's hospital clowns: a conference in Bucharest and visits to Romanian hospitals.
2017
25 years: ten clowns, eight wards, more than 8,000 visits a year. Birth of the “ZinZins Mobiles”, who visit children at home.
2020
COVID: visits continue on screen. Two new wards, and exchanges with the Docteurs Clowns of Quebec.
2023
30 years: twelve clowns, and the show “Le Nez dans l’HÖ” at the W:Hall.
Their code of ethics
A celebration of life, never at the expense of care
“Playing, laughing, dreaming let you dive into your own resources and be fully alive in the present moment: that is what the clowns offer at every visit — improvising a celebration of life brimming with humanity.”
Professional secrecy
Every member of the team is bound by it.
Ten days of training
Every artist follows a training course in adapting to the hospital environment — how the hospital works, hygiene rules — and signs an agreement with the management.
A code of ethics
The fruit of reflection between artists, carers and philosophers within the Art et Santé network, it sets out the principles for artists in care settings.
The Art et Santé network
Co-founded by the ZinZins in 2005 with the non-profit Culture et Démocratie, to encourage artistic projects in care settings.
Some of their characters
Zinzin Carabistouille Rondelle Bretelle Monsieur Willy Aglagla Gogo Biscuit Bartok Gaufrette Bouboule
2 000 €
donated to Les Docteurs ZinZins last year
And where does Table 12 come in?
Every bag of pralines and every rally crew funds their visits.
80% of the profit from our pralines and our rally goes to our charities. The ZinZins are also supported by the COCOF, Kids Care HUDERF and the Brussels-Capital Region.
Order pralines Our eventsA red nose changes everything.
To find out more, follow their news or donate directly:
docteurszinzins.be Follow them on Facebook