Photos: Weaving wigs for kids with cancer in Bosnia
Updated On Aug 17, 2018 11:42 AM IST
Bosnia, one of Europe's poorest countries, has no domestic wigmaking industry. The nearest available workshops are in neighbouring Croatia, where wigs cost up to 2,000 euros ($2,300) -- more than four times the average monthly salary in Bosnia. A campaign, called "My hair, your hair", is encouraging young Bosnians to donate their hair to a wigmaking workshop that opened in October. Hundreds of people have already participated in hair-cutting events organised in primary schools and shopping malls. The wig project is part of a wider effort by Bosnia's "Heart for Children" association to help young cancer patients and their families.
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Updated on Aug 17, 2018 11:42 AM IST
Hairdressers snip off the hair of young donors as part of the “My Hair, Your Hair” campaign in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ajla Nizic did not know what cancer was when she was diagnosed at age four. “But I knew that I lost my hair,” said the leukaemia survivor. Now a medical student, Nizic is leading a campaign to give other sick children a luxury her parents could not afford: wigs. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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Updated on Aug 17, 2018 11:42 AM IST
Hairdressers prepare the hair of young donors. Bosnia, one of Europe’s poorest countries, has no domestic wigmaking industry. The nearest available source has been neighbouring Croatia, where wigs cost up to 2,000 euros (USD 2,300) -- more than four times the average monthly salary in Bosnia. (Elvis VBarukcic / AFP)
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Volunteers weave hair to create wigs specifically for children who are undergoing chemotherapy or have lost their hair due to other health complications. “As trivial as it might seem at first while a person is battling such an aggressive disease, hair loss is often a huge psychological burden, particularly for girls who do not dare to go out without hair,” said Nizic. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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Hundreds of people -- mainly women, as the hair must be at least 30 centimetres (12 inches) long -- have flocked to hair-cutting events held at schools and shopping malls around the country. Others have cut their own hair and mailed it to the campaign. “I don’t want to be the only one smiling,” said 13-year-old Suana Sehic, now sporting a bouncy bob. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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A volunteer weaves a wig. Solidarity often saves lives in Bosnia, where many families struggle to cover the costs of basic medical care, let alone “secondary” therapies like wigs. The Sarajevo workshop uses donated real hair to avoid the expense of the materials needed to make synthetic wigs. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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It takes at least two weeks -- and the hair of six people -- to weave one wig. The small studio is also training a dozen future weavers to carry on the exacting work, which involves using a small metal needle to sew strands of hair into a mesh cap that covers the head. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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People sit outside the paediatric hospital in Sarajevo. The project is part of a wider effort by an association called “A Heart for Children with Cancer” which helps young patients and their families. In 2016, the group opened Bosnia’s first “Parents’ House” -- a small apartment complex near the hospital where families who live far from the capital can stay while their children are being treated. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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“Before, some parents slept in their car near the hospital, because it is expensive to pay for accommodation in Sarajevo, particularly because the process of recovery is very long and exhausting,” said Fikret Kubat, the association’s president. The Parents’ House was built through donations and organisers are now seeking to find a sponsor for the upkeep of each of the 10 apartments. (Elvis Barukcic / AFP)
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Updated on Aug 17, 2018 11:42 AM IST