Chennai :
Rapunzel may have used her locks to allow her lover to visit her, but Chennai’s long-haired girls are using their locks to give hope to children with cancer.
The Rotaract Club of Women’s Christian College (WCC) has adopted an initiative where girls can contribute their hair to make wigs for poor cancer patients. The hair would have to be a minimum of 10 inches long. The students plan to get the wigs made and donate them to the Adyar Cancer Institute.
The girls, who plan to receive hair donations from the public, too, got the idea from Locks of Love, an American organisation that organises a similar donation. “We were looking to take up an initiative that will reach people directly,” said club president Rennee Saradha, a final year student who plans to tonsure for the cause. A group of students visited Adyar Cancer Institute to find out if wigs were required. “We need at least 100 wigs a month,” said Dr V Surendran, psycho oncologist at the institute.
Cancer patients lose hair during chemotherapy. While the hair does grow back once they are cured, patients, especially children and girls tend to feel embarrassed during the treatment. “Hair loss affects their body image,” said Dr Surendran. “So they become even more depressed during the treatment.”
Wigs in the country are expensive and are not easily available. A 10-inch wig costs between 4,500 and 6,000. “Many patients who come to our institute are poor, and they opt for free or subsidised treatment. They cannot afford a wig,” said Dr Surendran.
The initiative will be inaugurated on February 4 with the WCC students being the first to donate hair. “We aim to contribute at least 200 wigs from hair collected from the campus,” says Saradha who plans to contribute her 14 inch-long hair.
The girls have tied up with Green Trends Salon which will visit the campus everyday through February and cut and save the hair of donors. “We have started training our stylists to cut eight-inch locks from customers, but ensure their hair style and looks are not altered drastically,” said S Deepak Praveen, senior marketing manager of the salon.
What the girls need now are more volunteers to donate hair and sponsorship for the cost of making the wigs. “It is a labour intensive small-scale industry. They are charging us 3,500 to make a wig,” says Saradha. “Every rupee counts for the cancer-affected children.”
The Rotaract Club of Women’s Christian College (WCC) has started an initiative where girls can contribute their hair to make wigs for poor cancer patients. Rennee Saradha (left) and Ramya Ramachandran will be among the first to donate their hair.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / January 12th, 2014