For a moment 12-year-old Ahmad is surprised when a trolley laden with candies, chocolates, toys and games appears in front of him. He's confined to bed, undergoing dialysis for a malfunctioning kidney. Then as Dana Askari and her childhood friend Janine Freiha pile his bed high with games and DVDs, he has a ‘light bulb moment'.
He's barely able to contain himself, and when Dana and Janine move to the next child, he calls his uncle, Ifthar, on his mother's mobile. "They gave me games and DVDs," he whispers. "You remember, I told you last year when a nice lady gave me toys? It's the same lady!"
Two beds away, three-and-a-half-year-old Johara Ahmad is excitedly clutching the games and bowls of chocolates she received from Dana's Candy Cart. If she could, she'd jump and scream with joy. But nephrotic syndrome - where the functioning of the kidney is affected - restricts her movement.
After Dana and Janine move away she says to her mother Tasleem, "I am so happy! I can't wait for tomorrow!" Tasleem smiles wanly and nods, not wanting to shatter her hopes.
For the Candy Cart visits the paediatric ward in Dubai Hospital every Tuesday. She'll have to wait a week to experience such delight again.
Spreading a little sunshine
"This is the reason why we started the Candy Cart here," says Dana. "If we could bring even a little bit of sunshine into these desperate lives it is worth the effort."
The Candy Cart is an idea Dana came across four years ago in the US when her 11-year-old daughter Dania was undergoing treatment at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. Dania was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma that affects the connective tissues.
Mother and daughter would travel from Dubai, where Dana has lived with her husband for 19 years, to New York, where Dania underwent treatment. Dana had to leave her sons Ali, then 15, and Badr, then just 18 months old, with her husband.
"Dania used to wait for Fridays there, when Frank's Candy Cart would visit the ward, showering gifts on the children who were in various stages of despair," she says.
Frank Tucciarone was a volunteer who came up with the idea and who still goes around the New York centre with a candy cart every Friday. When Dana followed up with her candy cart, she added toys and games to it.
"It made a world of difference for Dania," says Dana. "It broke the tedium of the long hours she spent while awake with nothing to reflect upon but the helplessness that the disease imposed on her."
More than a year of chemotherapy later, mother and daughter returned to Dubai as the cancer appeared to be in remission. They still had to go back for check-ups every three months. But the elation was shortlived. The cancer reappeared, and Dania died in 2010, a week short of her 13th birthday.
Since then Dana has been trying to bring some cheer into the lives of children suffering from cancer and other chronic diseases in Dubai. Janine encouraged Dana to roll out the Candy Cart at the Dubai Hospital. Eighteen months ago they started doing their rounds on Tuesdays, as that was the day the social worker, who was required to be present at the time, could make. Dana and Janine have missed very few Tuesdays since then. "We try not to break the visits, as we may disappoint a child who's waiting for it," says Dana.
Thirteen-year-old Shimeion Benjamin, who's undergoing treatment for leukaemia, echoes Johara's words when, eyes shining, he tells his mother Ida, "I just can't wait for the next visit!"
Ida smiles as he tucks into his candy. "When they come, they make kids forget about their treatment and just feel like at home with family," she says. "And it makes you feel better."
It's clear the Candy Cart is about so much more than just sweets. "Dana and her friend bring a ray of hope in our children's lives," says Alia, whose five-year-old daughter Haya, is being treated for leukaemia. Haya had been to school only for a week before her condition was discovered. "She's feeling really low, thinking of her friends who are going to school while she has to undergo pain and difficulty here," Alia says. "This visit is about the only thing she has to look forward to. Every day she asks me, ‘What day is today?' hoping it is Tuesday."
More help is needed
The children's response is why Dana and Janine are loathe to postpone their weekly visits. But without any regular volunteers it is tough to balance their lives. Dana has other plans as well.
"At the Sloan-Kettering they have a huge range of activities for children suffering from chronic and terminal diseases," she says.
"They have pizza evenings where kids are taught to make pizza, popcorn nights, and a slew of other activities that really keep them involved most of the time. It can really uplift their spirits, and sometimes even affect the outcome positively."
Dana hopes some committed volunteers, who can help on a regular basis, will pitch in to help her and Janine. "I would also like a teacher to help these children to study while they are in hospital, they miss it so much," she says.
Dana and Janine used to finance the Candy Cart themselves, until ToysRUs started part-sponsoring them six weeks ago. "It still costs us Dh2,000 a week," Dana says.
But it's all worth it for the women. "You see some sad stories and some happy stories," Dana says. "What I carry with me is the sight of a child who was to be discharged on a Monday refusing to leave, because he wanted to collect the gifts we'd bring the next day!"
