“A woman’s hair is her diamond crown” is a common phrase repeated throughout Egypt to emphasize the importance of a woman's hair with regards to her beauty. In an incredibly brave move, however, Egyptian women are breaking away the prevalent beliefs and donating their braids to cancer patients who are suffering from hair loss.
Hair loss as a result of cancer treatments can be devastating to a woman’s self-esteem. According to statistics, one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer during her lifetime and nearly 60 percent of them consider hair loss as the single worst side effect of cancer. They often feel insecure about their appearance during this time and sometimes isolate themselves as a result.
You don’t feel it until you live it
After a difficult time dealing with her mother’s cancer, 20-year-old Yasmin Omar donated 25 cm of her hair to cancer patients to help support them through their struggle with cancer.
“My mother was suffering from cancer. It was a very bad experience for her, with the chemotherapy, and she lost all her hair. She tried not to succumb to grief, but she still became depressed,” said Omar.
Sometimes, Omar would come up close to her mother and let her hair cover her mother’s head to ease her silent suffering and say, “I want to give you my hair, mom.”
So, Omar decided to do something about the situation.
“I decided to cut off my hair and give it to cancer patients, I did not hesitate,” said Omar; “When I told my mother, she cried in the beginning, but then said, 'Any patient who has lost her hair due to chemotherapy will feel better. I know it’s painful.'”
Omar said that being a veiled girl was not the reason for her courage, emphasizing that she would do the same if she had not been veiled. “My hair is growing now, and I’m waiting for it to be long enough to repeat the experience,” Omar said with a big smile on her face.
Omar's photos of her braid went viral on social media, encouraging many women to take the chance as well.
Another brave woman
“You will not attain righteousness till you spend in charity of the things you love,” said Enjy Ibrahim, citing a verse from the Quran.
Ibrahim posted a photo of her long braid on her Facebook page saying that she donated her hair to cancer patients.
“The last time I cut off my hair was years ago and I had decided not to do it again, but I realized that cancer patients resent wigs made of artificial hair because they look so fake and they can’t afford those made of natural hair as they are very expensive,” Ibrahim said.
“I read about the CanSurvive initiative of collecting donor hair for cancer patients for free or for a low price, so I decided to cut off my hair and donate it."
Speaking to cancer patients she said, “You are still beautiful, my hair is not too much for you, especially since I’m not doing anything with it. One day it will grow and your hair will grow too and will be much better than the one you lost, and maybe you’ll then donate it to another struggling patient.”
CanSurvive initiative
“We are not the first to do this. The hair donation campaign called Make the Cut started years ago worldwide, but One Wig Stand is a pioneering charity organization which is considered the sister NGO of CanSurvive,” said Esraa Elsayed, the executive manager of the NGO.
She continued, “We started a while ago and Omar was one of the team members who decided to donate her hair to cancer patients after suffering the emotional pain with her mother who survived breast cancer.”
Omar’s brave initiative sparked enthusiasm among many girls throughout the country, especially after appearing on the Mona al-Shazly talk show along with her mother. When the mother and daughter told their story, the audience was clearly moved.
"After Omar’s experience we’ve received many inquires and from that moment on we have been receiving seven to eight parcels of braids every day, as well as five to six donors," said Elsayed.
“Whoever wants to donate should send more than 20 cm of tightly braided hair, which will then be collected to make a wig containing four to five braids all dyed the same color.”
There was a similar initiative in October 2011 in Dubai called the Hair for Hope Project which encouraged women to cut off and donate their hair to organizations that make wigs for cancer patients.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, people make a difference in the lives of cancer patients by donating their hair to the The Lock of Hope hair donation campaign, which is an initiative started by Professional Hair Care, the National Cancer Society of Malaysia and the Amber Chia Academy. Over 150 hair salons throughout the country participate in that campaign.
