KARACHI: Little patients in Indus Hospital’s pediatric oncology ward share pain, hope, and a dream of becoming professional artists.
“Seeing my sketches hanging on the walls gave me a lot of boost, turning my attention from pain to art,” said 14-year-old Zainab Nadeem who for a year and a half has been fighting blood cancer.
The girl inspired psychologists at the Karachi clinic to introduce art therapy as an offset to chemotherapy and other painful treatment some children must undergo to survive.
When they first met Nadeem, she was quiet, detached. They asked about her favorite activities and the girl said she liked to draw. Very soon, her works got a professional touch and are now properly exhibited in the clinic’s hallway.
The hospital reached out to artists to run a real painting course for kids, with brushes, paints and canvas.
A soon as they learnt to use the new medium, “they started to tell their stories,” said Nafisa Dawood, who heads the hospital’s psychological department.
In one of her early paintings, Zainab Nadeem expressed her fear of death. (AN photo)
In the beginning, the children narrated their fears, she told Arab News, “but as time and their treatment went on, they started to paint nature, dreams and hope.”
Aroosa Khan, a teenager from Quetta, pictures her treatment, showing scars as her source of power.
Her scars and strength to face painful treatment are Aroosa Khan’s superpowers. (AN photo)
“Her paintings were simply brilliant, and she learnt it from watching YouTube videos!” Dawood said.
Art helps the children cope with their treatment. “The works by our patients are masterpieces, also in the sense that they help us in providing them with therapy,” said Dr. Muhammad Fareeduddin, head of the hospital’s pediatric medicine.
“I am a fighter,” “I am hopeful,” read inscriptions on a painting signed “Saba & Survivors.” Saba, who is suffering from lymphoma, asked other kids to put their colorful handprints on her painting of a tree. It is a tree of life blooming with hope.
Saba & Survivors from the pediatric oncology ward of Indus Hospital in Karachi have stamped their hands on a tree of life. (AN photo)
Another girl, 13-year-old Laiba. She liked to paint sunrises, wanted to be like the sun, to rise and shine. But one day, she did not. A memory of her stays with her sun rays.
Sunrise by 13-year-old cancer patient Laiba. (AN photo)
While not every child can be saved, for all of them life is far more bearable when it revolves around hope. And art keeps it springing.
Painting helped Nadeem have her illness go into remission and find new dreams.
“I wanted to become a banker. Now, I want to be an accomplished artist. I have found an artist inside me. And my father agrees,” she said.
She is a portrait painter now. She proudly shows her painting of actress Mahira Khan, as she tells Arab News to convey her message to the superstar: “Unfortunately, I was not in the hospital the day you came here. I made this for you, and I hope you will collect it.”
Zainab Nadeem poses with her painting for Mahira Khan in Karachi on Feb. 3. (AN photo)
About 250 children are currently undergoing treatment at Indus Hospital’s pediatric oncology ward. Each month, 100 new kids are admitted. Their therapy is free of charge.
