A Special Salad

By Xu Kuang

Redtomato , greencucumber,yellow banana...

On the morning of April 4, in a pediatric ward of Tongji Hospital,a group of blonde-haired blueeyed foreigners, both mothers and children, were working with Chinese child patients to make fruit salad.

“It is the Cold Food Festival in China today. It’s a tradition to shun cooked food and just eat cold food on this day. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So we’re making a salad, a cold food in our country, and sharing the experience with the children.”said Ms. Joanna from America,“Making salad takes cooperation and effort, during which time the children are responsible for their duties within the team.”

With the help of the mothers,the children were busily washing tomatoes, peeling bananas,cutting apples, adding crème, and working together to make the first fruit salad of their life. At times,some of the more mischievous kids secretly ate the ingredients;which was quite a sight. Children are more likely to eat the salad they make themselves while they were feeling good.

Ms. Yao Ying, professor of Tongji Hospital suggested that diet management plays a key role in the treatment of pediatric kidney disease. Eating the right foods helps with the recovery process. On the contrary,eating the wrong foods leads to malnutrition and exacerbates the condition.

Accompanying children and playing with them are the most effective treatment for child patients. After sharing the salad,child patients played games with foreign children in the activity room while foreign mothers communicated with them via gesture. They burst into laughter and chased each other now and then. It is this kind of love that removes linguistic and cultural barriers.

Most child patients in Tongji Hospital suffer from some form of chronic disease. In September 2016, Tongji Hospital established a Future Children’s School. Its classrooms are placed in wards,and teachers are volunteers with hearts full of care. With the help of those teachers, children can read books, watch movies and play games together.

紅色小番茄、綠色小黃瓜、黃色小香蕉……

2018年4月4日上午，同濟醫院兒科病房里，一群黃頭發、藍眼睛的外國媽媽、小朋友正和中國患童一起做水果沙拉。

“今天是中國的寒食節，聽說這天有禁煙火、吃冷食的傳統，入鄉隨俗，就想做我們國家的冷食沙拉，和孩子們一起分享。”來自美國的喬安娜女士說：“做沙拉需要分工協作，希望在這個過程中，讓孩子感受到自己在團隊中所承擔的責任。”

洗番茄，剝香蕉，分蘋果，放沙拉醬，在媽媽們的幫助下，小患兒們分工協作，完成自己人生中的第一份水果沙拉。偶爾會有一倆個小調皮偷吃做沙拉的食材，十分可愛。小患兒們吃著自己做的沙拉，特別開心。

同濟醫院的姚穎教授介紹，飲食管理在孩子腎病的治療中，起著非常關鍵的作用。吃對了，腎病就好得快；吃錯了，會營養不良，病情加重。

走進孩子們的心里，陪伴玩耍是最好的交流。分享完沙拉，小患兒與外國孩子在活動室玩起互動游戲，外國媽媽配合手勢和小患兒們交流，他們一會兒捧腹大笑，一會兒追逐打鬧。這里沒有言語的隔閡、沒有文化的差異，只有愛的傳遞。

同濟醫院的住院患兒大多是慢性病。 2016年9月，同濟醫院成立同濟未來兒童學校，教室設在病房，老師由社會愛心人士組成。在志愿者老師的陪伴下，患兒們可以一起讀書、看電影、做游戲。

這些志愿者媽媽由在武漢生活的各國女性組成，分別來自美國、英國、法國、西班牙、俄羅斯和巴西。從 2013年開始，每年她們都會到同濟醫院兒科看望住院的孩子，給孩子們送禮物，陪孩子們一起做游戲，今后還將定期給住院孩子們上英語課，為小患兒打開一扇認識不同國家文化的窗口。◆

These volunteers are now living in Wuhan. They come from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Russia,and Brazil. Since 2013, they have been visiting hospitalized children in pediatric ward. Every year,Tongji Hospital presents children gifts and plays games with them.In the future, they will arrange regular English classes for them,in the hope of opening a window for them, through which the children would be able to witness different cultures.◆