Christmas in Nicaragua

Surrounded by clowns, a patient touches a "pinata," a decorated figure containing toys and candy, at the oncology area of the La Mascota Children Hospital in Managua, Nicaragua, Dec. 18, 2012. Each year members of "Club of Clowns" clown school visit hospitalized children before Christmas to make them laugh as part of an alternative therapy.

Credit: AP Photo/Esteban Felix