After a meeting with some children from Rome, twenty-one clown doctors from all over the world leave for Kabul. They are happy, noisy, colourful, but their first impact with the reality of the Afghan paediatric hospitals is really hard. At the end of the first day the shock at what they have seen is written all over their faces. However, what they see provides an added impetus for continuing their work. In the following days they are to bring their joy of life, vivacity and “smile-therapy” to all the hospitals of Kabul, as well as the markets, dusty streets and rubble. But Kabul is merely the first stage of their journey before moving on to the valleys of Panshir, the stronghold of Massud with its mujaheddin, and to Bamyan, among the ruins of the Buddha destroyed by the Taliban.