Patients of the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Bogo City, northern Cebu were surprised to see a tall man in a clown costume visiting the wards.
Moshe Twito, an Israeli professional medical clown, donned blue and white striped leggings, a pink undershirt, a blazer and oversized shoes as he made faces and drew laughter from patients and guardians.
The Embassy of Israel commissioned the 37-year old Twito who works as a medical clown in Jerusalem for seven years. Twito’s presence immediately calmed a tense and dreary atmosphere in the hospital.
An 11-month old patient named John Niño Monares stopped crying on seeing Twito and was amused by his antics. Monares was confined in the hospital for days due to loose bowel movement and vomitting.
His grandmother Anabelle, said Monares had been crying all morning due to stomach pain. Medical clowns are part of Israel’s medical team and provide entertainment to patients to help in their recovery.
Twito visited various wards performing magic tricks and blowing bubbles. An Israeli medical team came to the Philippines three days after supertyphoon Yolanda and set up a tent hospital outside the Severo Verallo Memorial Medical Center in Bogo City.
They stayed for two weeks and brought two young patients to Israel to perform a cleft palate operation. Israeli Deputy ambassador Adam Levene said the operation was successful and the two children will return home this Friday.