Husband and father, settled in Mauritius for 7 years, Israeli Sharon Juhl founded the Mauritius Medical Clowns Project in 2017, and has been running the island’s Mediclown NGO since 2022, alongside artists, patients, doctors and entrepreneurs, to make hospitals a pleasant place for sick children.
Delphine Raimond
For over five years, Sharon has been a volunteer in the pediatric ward at Pamplemousses Hospital (SSRNH). After a difficult start with a medical team that didn’t always understand his presence, he had to prove his usefulness, adaptability and capacity for sensitivity. A year later, Novaterra approached him and decided to sponsor his two weekly sessions at the hospital.
Who is Yool?
He can juggle, stand on his hands, ride a unicycle, walk a rope and much more! “Yool is a bit like me when I was 5… we look alike!” the 40-year-old confides to me, before arguing: “He’s looking for attention, but doesn’t really have anything intelligent to say! So he invents an imaginary world and invites people to join him.” As Sharon doesn’t like failure, Yool enjoys failing… to get attention: “Everything serves as a playground to communicate.”
What does Yool do?
His mission is to entertain patients, make them happy, prevent the fear and anxiety associated with treatment… ” My wish is that all children admitted to hospitals in Mauritius meet a medical clown!” For the moment, Yool is working at the SSRNH, but very soon he will be meeting the little autistic children at the Triolet center, hoping to find a sponsor to visit them every week.
“The clown doesn’t erase pain, but treats the feelings that can aggravate its perception. I act so that the patient’s mind gives it less space.”
Photos © Akhilesh Ramkurrun
