Students lead initiative to provide free natural wigs to cancer fighters

AMMAN — Three young students have dedicated their time, money and effort for over a year to support women “cancer fighters” by giving them new natural hair wigs.

The “Khusal” initiative, or “curls of hair” in Arabic is the first of its kind in Jordan, and aims at providing cancer patients with natural hair wigs through collecting hair donations and turning them into wigs. 

The wigs are treated in specialised hair care centres where the process of cleaning and weaving the hair takes place.  

The idea started when Heba Hmeedan and Sakhaa Zaatreh, co-founders of the initiative and IT students at the University of Jordan (UJ), saw a post on Facebook where a user asked about natural hair perukes and places that sell them for cancer patients in Jordan. 

“Hair wigs are expensive.  One ready-made natural hair peruke costs between JD700 to JD800 so they [co-founders of the initiative] thought about coming up with an initiative to help patients who suffer hair loss,” Rand Meqdad, nutrition student at UJ and the initiative’s coordinator told the Jordan Times. 

Khusal has collected over 500 tufts of hair, which benefited 40 ladies and children so far, Meqdad noted.

One wig requires eight to nine donors and costs about JD50 to make. 

“We have collected money from our parents, relatives and friends for the perukes,” Meqdad explained.

But the initiative, which is registered as a non-profit organisation, is struggling financially due to lack of funds and had to be momentarily stopped, the coordinator highlighted.  

Ladies feel happy when they receive their perukes, and they feel more confident in front of their children, husbands and the society, Meqdad said. 

A four-year-old girl who benefited from the initiative explained how she was affected by the negative comments her classmates made concerning her hair at the kindergarten. “She was always asking her mom why she does not have hair,” Meqdad recounted.

“I was moved when the little girl cried so hard as her mom removed her wig to do an experiment that required the patient to enter a room without any plastic or metal materials. Since the wig contained hair clips, removing it was a must… but she considered the peruke as her real hair,” Meqdad explained.

Khusal wants the ladies to feel confident, to fight their illnesses and be able to face the pity in others’ eyes, since the society often makes them feel weak as they stare at a woman without hair, Meqdad said. 

Bayan, a 30-year-old cancer patient, said she is no more afraid of the chemotherapy’s side effect since she has her wig, because no one will know she is a cancer patient since it looks so natural. 

“I feel more at ease living a normal life… I feel more confident,” Bayan said. 

Khusal is cooperating with Rougina Saloon, located in Amman’s Sweifieh area, which gives a free haircut to the ladies who would like to donate, the coordinator said, noting that the donated hair must be no less than 10cm long. 

The lady chooses the hair length, cut and even colour of the wig, and all those services are provided for free, Meqdad noted. 

“We do not take photos of the patient receiving the wig because our goal is humanitarian, not commercial,” she concluded.