Angie Rosales (Pallapupas): “laughing gives you life”

Can a smile change a life? Is it possible to smile under any life circumstance? After conducting this interview with Angie Rosales we can and must affirm that yes, a smile is healing and life-giving. It generates a positivity in people that makes them face various adversities, whether physical or emotional, that assail them in their lives in a different way. And to attest to this, Pallapupas, a non-profit organization that makes hospitals a more humane space, works to ensure there is room for laughter during the illness process through artistic performances aimed at children and adults, and always in close collaboration with healthcare personnel.

Recently, the company has been finalizing the relocation of its headquarters to a property owned by Grupo Núñez i Navarro on Bisbe Laguarda street, in the Raval neighborhood. Therefore, even though they already have some significance, we could not miss the opportunity to amplify their message.

Dinos, Angie, how was Pallapupas born?

I am a trained actress and had done television, theater, and above all, advertising. One morning in 1997, in Mallorca, a colleague I was working with invited me to attend a casting for a hospital clown, even though he knew clowning was not my strongest skill. I ended up going and that experience had a profound impact on me and changed my life. Seeing how such a sterile, serious, and quiet space could suddenly transform into a place of laughter and play, thanks to the hospital clowns, was striking. They called me to confirm that I had been selected and that was the beginning of my activity as a hospital clown.

I didn't know what to expect, as fortunately my children and family had been in good health and I had no experience with hospitals beyond short or courtesy visits. But entering a hospital as a clown, my awareness was suddenly opened, and I realized that these places are like cities within cities, overcrowded and filled with tremendous life stories.

How many people are members of the association?

We currently have 28 hospital clowns, 4 theater facilitators, and 11 people on the management team.

What kind of assistance does Pallapupas provide to the sick?

It can be said that we improve the emotional state of patients by generating a positive change through humor and theater. Our assistance is emotional, but there are studies that show that this is a determining factor for “physical” healing. We treat patients as people, giving them back the power to choose the attitude they want to adopt to live through the illness process in the best way possible, generating a positive change.

How do you get to the patient's room? What is the hiring process?

Usually, we are fortunate that it is the healthcare staff themselves who, in a process of humanizing their hospital or unit, want to include the presence of Pallapupas as part of the care team.

We, the Pallapupas, are professional actors and actresses, and for our intervention method, working with volunteers is not viable. Therefore, the start of Pallapupas activities in a hospital is always linked to private donors, whether through individual fundraising initiatives or patrons who finance our programs.

Do you have prior information about each patient you are going to visit, or do you go in a bit 'blind'?

One never enters a room 'blindly'. Before the service, there is always a briefing where the healthcare staff updates us on the patients' conditions so we also know what each person needs. It's not the same to visit a baby, whom we'll help with music, gestures, and interacting with the parents, as it is to visit a child who has had throat surgery and cannot speak, or an adult who can interact in a different way.

How does the healthcare staff experience the disruption of their work area?

They don't experience it at all as an intrusion, but rather as companions whom we help in their work: it's not the same to draw blood or administer anesthesia to a crying and squirming child as it is to one who is laughing and playing. Neither for the healthcare staff, nor for the family, and certainly not for the child himself or herself.

Have you ever been slammed in the face with a door or rejected by patients and/or relatives?

Sometimes you can sense in the atmosphere that it's better to come back later or another day and of course we leave, we know how to pick up on those vibes to know what to do at each moment, tailoring our actions accordingly.

How was it for you to gain access to such a restricted area as an operating room?

It was the ultimate expression that the healthcare team really relies on us and we are useful!

How is it possible for humor and pain to coexist in the same space?

We realize every day that pain is inevitable, but suffering is a personal and optional choice. People in hospitals understand this very clearly! Parents want to give those smiles to their sick children, they want the best for them, for them to continue being children despite being sick... and they want to see them laugh.

Does it cost to 'forget' or turn the page on the stories you come across every day?

Of course. There are also boys, girls, and families that you see week after week for months and sometimes years. And sometimes there are lives that fade away... forgetting them is impossible, but what's important is knowing the quality of the time they had in the hospital that you were able to provide.

In addition to the childhood program, you also have a series of activities in centers for the elderly. Did this arise as a natural evolution of your daily work, or was there a demand generated from the results with children?

It was a natural evolution, we want to emotionally support all patients, from 0 to 100 years old and beyond. Although it is a program that is not being developed, we see that it works perfectly. Older people need to become the person they once were again, by remembering, interacting, laughing, thanks to the theater and the humor of the Pallapupas.

Another program that Pallapupas offers is the Mental Health program. What does it consist of?

With the Mental Health collective, we take off our noses to work through theatrical dynamics both inside and outside the hospital through our 3 amateur theater companies, where we mainly work with the technique of 'theater of the oppressed'. In these spaces, people who are diagnosed with a mental disorder improve their ability to relate and build a different perspective on their issues: thanks to theater, they become individuals again and can set aside their social label of 'sick'.

What is it that you are most asked for currently?

Regarding interventions, the Hospital Clowns with Children program is the most developed and in highest demand, as we are present in 8 of the 13 hospitals where we offer services.

What type of audience is most appreciative of your work? And the most rewarding for you?

Equal for all, the return in laughter or personal transformation is the success.

Are you aware of another association that performs the same functions in other communities or at a national level?

Of course, and although we all have differences when performing the intervention, thank goodness they exist. There should be hospital clowns in every hospital in the world!

At the TEDx conference that is on Youtube and on the Pallapupas website you talk about the power of the smile. What does that power consist of and who can develop it?

That power in Pallapupas is conveyed through the smallest mask in the world: the red nose. It's about the ability we have as human beings, regardless of the life situation we're in, to choose the attitude we take towards circumstances. And here's a 'spoiler': laughter gives you life.