1111111111Once she turns on her mp4 music player to run her dancing songs the children gather in front of her to dance away their sadness and take a moment to forget all about cancer. Shawn Lent is a talented American dance teaching artist, who came to Egypt on a scholarship grant to lecture at the Academy of Arts HighInstitute of Ballet in Cairo. Since August, 2012, she has been volunteering her time and special talent at 57357. In the outpatient playrooms she provides dancing sessions for different groups of patients and dance therapy for theteen peer support group.

“I walked into 57357 and felt more joy than any other place I’ve seen in Cairo. I see colors and laughter and hope. We dance in the outpatient playroom at 57357. With joy in ourselves and each other, we stretch, we shake, we boogie and balance in stillness. Through the music we create the most beautiful scene in Egypt. These kids know how to live. They are my heroes. I am honored to dance with them “, said Shawn.

Before coming to Egypt, Shawn raised $40,000 for childhood cancer in the United States by shaving her head . Today, she is committed to organizing a marathon in Cairo to raise donations for the benefit of 57357’s children with cancer; especially that Hospital 57357 is now engaged in a number of capacity expansion projects including a 300 bed in-patient tower, a Health Sciences training academy and research institute, and a hospice care and guesthouse which will enable it to meet the increasing demand for its free of charge, high quality healthcare services.

 

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