The Laughter Aid project was started by Vinca Petersen before FYP existed and now compliments many FYP Projects.
Hardy Blechman of Maharishi originally designed and donated a bouncy castle after Petersen proposed to him it would be the perfect form of ‘inexhaustible aid’ to take with her on her journey across West Africa.
The Laughter Aid bouncy castle entertained children in orphanages and schools along the route Petersen took through Europe, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and all the way back home to the UK.
Since then the bouncy castle has been taken to orphanages in Romania and this year entertained the children in the Happy House in Kalinovka Orphanage, Ukraine. It also appears in the UK to raise funds for FYP.
The joy it creates is invaluable and inexhaustible. Petersen recalls a carer in a children’s hospital near Chernobyl telling her that no matter how many nappies, food or clothing she brought to them the most important thing was that she came to visit the children. The carers said that they do their jobs trying to keep the children alive but often could not keep them happy and that a visit from people that have driven all that way to see them raises the children’s spirits for months.
To hire the bouncy castle for an event contact : vinca@futureyouthproject.com