Aimed to bolster the emotional well being of the children under treatment, ASHIC introduced the concept of play centers in the hospitals in Bangladesh. It now runs four fully equipped and staffed play centers across the country: Dhaka Medical College Hospital (est.1997), Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical Colllege Hospital (est.2003), Chittagong Medical College Hospital (est.2005), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib University Hospital (2017). On average, each center is visited by more than 100 children per month.

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In the West, play therapy is considered a form of counseling which allows children to communicate their feelings with the play companion through playing with toys and play materials. It gives them a safe place to express their feelings and a way to alleviate their stress, thus giving them a feeling of having more control over their emotions despite their physical suffering.

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The Founders of ASHIC have witnessed this first-hand comfort of a child through their son Ashiq, when he was being treated at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Little Ashiq loved his time at the Play Center. They fondly recall how, just minutes before he went in for a major surgery, he was busy pushing a play stroller in the bright and cheerful playroom that he always enjoyed very much. This extraordinary memory of Ashiq remained with his parents and, as such, it was one of the first programs they sought to introduce through ASHIC Foundation Serving Childhood Cancer.

 

ASHIC provides all the toys and play materials, and employs a Play Companion for the full duration of the centers being open. The center is open to all children in the pediatric ward but priority is given to the oncology patients. Many of the children who come to the play centers have never had any toys and the enthusiasm with which they embrace the Play Center is truly heart-warming. The Play Centers are voluntarily supervised by a Project Director – mainly the Head of the Dept. of Pediatrics of the respected hospital. ASHIC  applauds this humanitarian service of a senior doctor, and welcomes donation of funds and toys as well as volunteers to come play with the ill children in the Play Centers.