I am Cristian Enrique Rodríguez, a student in the 10th grade of the Instituto San Juan de Dios in Bogotá. For me, the greatest satisfaction is to see a child smiling – especially when you have caused that smile. The idea behind the “Become a Wise Man” project began one day when I and a group of classmates were invited to visit a Social/Health Care Centre dedicated to St Benedict Menni. When we arrived there, in a vulnerable area of the city, we met a large number of children, whose sad faces spoke of their suffering and need; it was at that moment that I felt the desire to help these children welling up within me, proposing an idea to make them happy to be born.

We began from scratch, and very nervously, but the response from our companions was so satisfactory that we were filled with hope and encouragement. We exceeded all expectations and succeeded in collecting a large number of presents. When we took them to the home, we brought some clowns with us, played with the children, and talked to them about Saint John of God. The children were so excited that they never stopped laughing, and that was our greatest reward for the efforts we had made. Now we have put in place another project in the San Rafael hospital, called “Happiness”, to provide laughter-therapy sessions, particularly for the children with cancer.