Gal Chai Salman, a joyful and energetic 9 year-old, happily enters the small room in Ezer Mizion's Oranit Donald Berman Rehabilitation Center and gets to work at the sand table.  Gal has wispy thinning hair that makes it evident he is not here by mistake. Two and a half years ago Gal was diagnosed with a very powerful cancer. 

During the next 40 minutes Gal builds a diverse range of scenes depicting images of life with a considerable measure of death intertwined.  Miniature animals are buried and then come out alive, bridges appear and collapse and boats take the dinosaurs to faraway places. The story that he tells and his own life are interwoven with each other, as are the incongruous blend of his outward joy and his preoccupation with burial. 

Gal's mother Sima says, "Gal enjoys his sessions in the sand immensely.  Here he does not have to express himself verbally. He can rather express his fears in a different manner.  I did not know that Gal was thinking about his own death.  The work in the sand allows him release all types of feelings that he would rather not talk about."

The Sand Room holds two sandboxes which are table height to make it easier for the children to work.  In one box there is wet sand and in the other, dry sand. Along the boxes there are shelves filled with tiny miniatures of animals, small human figures, houses, furniture, everyday accessories and more.  Taking charge of the decision when to build and when to dismantle, what miniatures to use and what stories to tell, somewhat helps the child in dealing with the tremendous ordeal brought on by the sickness with all its insecurities, pain, fear and worries.

Cookie Yellin, the devoted therapist who works with the sick children and their families through the medium of Sand Tables, explains: "The objective of sand play therapy is to air out and work through the various emotions that result from serious illness and the treatments.  The feel of the sand calms the children down, and then they choose the miniatures and create a story on the sand table.  Most times the story of the main hero is the story of the child creating the scene." 

Cookie continues to explain that the positive results of the creative work on the sand table are immediate.  "Sometimes you get the feeling that one child walks in and at the end of the session a different child walks out.  Don't make a mistake!  It is the same child, but with a totally different mindset and a totally different mood. After therapy, everything improves."

Guy Alrom, the director of Oranit's Donald Berman Rehabilitation Center therapy activities expounds: "The first stage of the therapy process is that of release, where the child unwinds, followed by the second stage which involves the actual expression.  At the second stage, we put the cards on the table and we talk to the child openly and the child will express himself by saying - for example - I am scared of.....I am concerned about...... I am worried.....and then, together with the child and his family, we find a way to overcome these fears in the best possible manner."