Caught your hair through lockdown? Like these people, you can also donate all this to help people suffering from cancer.
In the months before coming to college, 17-year-old Rishita Maripalli had her head shaved.
Her inspiration was her 21-year-old sister Priya, who was inspired to see her aunt going for cancer treatment. “Rishita saw me getting my hair cut to donate to a cause and decided that for the moment, to do it too. But she went one step ahead and shaved her head completely.
While Rishita was a spontaneous decision, 20-year-old Vinita Madhav did not. “My two cousins and I decided to donate our hair, so we developed it through lockdown. This feeling is terrible, ”she shares from Bengaluru.
These child charities are helping NGOs give free cancer to people suffering from cancer. Hair loss is a common side effect of cancer treatment which includes chemotherapy and radiation.
Priya Maripalli
Wearing a wig to restore damage can restore some normalcy. However, wigs made from natural hair can cost up to 45 45,000, depending on the length, additional expense for those who may already be burdened with the cost of treatment. A synthetic wig, although inexpensive, can be inconvenient.
Thanks to social media and word and mouth, awareness of hair donation has increased, and it is helping NGOs in the production of wigs.
Lockdown experiment
Hairstylist Shiva Kumar, who founded the Hyderabad Hair Donation for Cancer Patients in 2014, says, “I have been campaigning for hair donations for years, but donations have increased four or five times in the last few months . “
While working at his salon in Chandannagar, Hyderabad, Shiva felt that the hair in the bin could be put to better use. That’s when he started sending hair to an organization in Mumbai that makes wigs for people suffering from cancer for free.
However, when the logistics came to deliver the wigs during the lockdown, Shiva decided to do it himself in Hyderabad; He spends his money to make them. “I believe in God, but I feel that instead of having tonsils in temples, devotees should consider donating their hair in this way,” says Shiva, who asked his sister Pavani to shave her head He refused and donated his hair to them. He cries out to the city and surrounding districts to visit donors at their homes, cut their hair, give them a new look, and come back with donated locks. Shiva says, “If I don’t take anything, but if donors want, they can pay towards making the wig, which costs Sh 3,000.”
This is how you do it
- The length of the hair should be at least 10 to 12 inches.
- Hair should be washed, braided and secured with a rubber band. Cut an inch above the band.
- The chopped braid should be wrapped in a newspaper and placed in a polythene bag before being dispatched.
- Depending on the thickness of the hair, it should be divided into separate ponies before cutting. Typically, a person’s hair lends to two ponies and it takes six to seven ponies to make a wig. Often the hair parting ends, so not all of your hair goes into making the wig.
- Some organizations also accept colored and brown hair.
Harish Kannadhasan of Hair Donation Bangalore (HDB)
When Bengaluru-based mechanical engineer Harish Kannadhasan was moved by a video of a child undergoing cancer treatment, he threw himself into researching chemo-borne hair loss. In 2018, he started a Facebook page called Hair Donation Bangalore (HDB) to further the campaign. Donations donated by him are sent to The Cherian Foundation in Chennai.
“We guide donors on the rules for cutting and packing their hair for this purpose. We maintain a register of donor details. Often, we pay for courier charges, ”says Harish, who receives at least two calls a week from Electronic City, Bengaluru. “Many courier companies don’t work here, so most of the donors send their hair through Donzo and we ship them to Chennai.”
Feature locations
‘Gift Hair Gift Confidence’ is a campaign of The Cherian Foundation, whose trustee is accredited by Sarah Benzari Cherian. Started on 4 February 2014 to mark World Cancer Day, the foundation’s first donor was a student of the Women’s Christian College, says Vijay Charles Wesley, the Foundation’s senior project coordinator in T Nagar, Chennai.
“Our campaigns have been mostly in colleges, schools, corporates; To date we have donated 700 wigs to cancer patients free of charge in collaboration with the Adyar Cancer Institute, ”says Charles. The lockdown saw an increase in donations, and in October and November 2020, the Cherian Foundation donated 200 wigs.
In collaboration with the oncology departments of various hospitals, wigs are given to people after receiving a referral letter from their respective doctors. Charles shared that the campaign has now spread from colleges to communities and neighborhoods, where grandparents and grandchildren come forward to donate hair.
To donate hair or ask for a wig, contact:
- Hyderabad: Shiv Kumar on Facebook page of Hyderabad Hair Donation, Hair Donation for Cancer patients Facebook page or DBS Udaya Kumar
- Bengaluru: Harish Kannadhasan on Instagram, @ Higher Donation Bengaluru
- Chennai: Cherian Foundation, visit cherianfoundation.org
DBS Udaya Kumar of Hyderabad Hair Donation (HHD) with Donor Rakesh Guntose.
Hyderabad-based business development professional DBS Udaya Kumar is a familiar sight every month at the Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai. He is a doctor in the oncology department. Surendran hands over a parcel of hair to V, recording a video of every phase of the transaction and, upon his return, presents a certificate of appreciation to his donors.
Uday and his friend Venkat started Hyderabad Hair Donation (HHD) when a close friend succumbed to cancer. “I saw him weakening his body as he struggled with the trauma of losing his hair. After his demise, I registered HHD and started raising awareness. I go to Telangana and all parts of AP to collect hair.
Sreeja and Rosie Devarapalli (Mother Daughter)
His services are free, but recently when the hospital said that there was no money to make the wig, Uday started collecting ₹ 200 from each donor for a courier fee and that money was sent to the hospital. handed over. He is happy that during the lockout, many young boys came forward to donate their hair.
Twenty-three-year-old Rakesh Gunoj learned that his male colleagues at the workplace were growing their hair for a reason, and decided to join it. “It was not easy, especially during the summer. Since my hair is curly, when I leave it unattended, I will feel awkward and people will look at me with suspicion. He is happy that he can donate his hair in July 2020 after growing to a length of 15 inches.
The longer the hair, the more wigs can be made, realizes 32-year-old Rosie Dewarpalli, who did not think twice before donating the 38-inch long hair of her school-going daughter Srija. The mother and daughter went for a total beard. “When you think that it brings happiness to those who are already suffering, then sacrificing our hair is not a big deal. Hair will grow back in no time.
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