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These students vacation for a cause

Dubai - School students inspired by Hair For Hope India donate wigs, shed hair for cancer patients.

When school is out and the summer vacation begins, most children have their sights set on playtime with friends or holidaying with family, but not these children.
This summer, sisters Divyashree and Harishree Sureshbabu, five-year-old Ashly Aneesh and 14-year-old Bhavana Balakrishnan have decided to shed and spread their hair, all in the name of charity.
Although all four students will be getting on a plane, it won't only be for the purposes of a summer vacation. Instead, they'll be flying back to their home towns in India to put a smile on the faces of cancer patients there.
But this won't be the first time for some of them. Last year, 9th Grade Ambassador Dubai student, Bhavana Balakrishnan sponsored three wigs through the Hair For Hope India campaign at a special event held by the Lions Club Ottappalam in Kerala.
Founded by Dubai-based Indian resident, Premi Mathew, the campaign encourages hair donations and converts it into wigs for chemotherapy patients.
This year, Bhavana is taking her charitable efforts one step further by giving her very own hair the chop.
"What is so beautiful about Bhavana's story is that her event last year inspired three other events in her home town. It set off a movement there," Mathew told Khaleej Times.
Following in the footsteps of the selfless Dubai student are sisters, 12-year-old Divyashree and 9-year-old Harishree.
The Delhi Private School Sharjah students, originally from Chennai in India, are no strangers to doing their bit for charity. Both have donated their own hair to benefit needful donors in the past, and this year they intend to donate 15 wigs to Adayar Cancer Hospital in Chennai.
"It's a great fulfillment. It's our small contribution giving back to society" Divyashree said.
The donated wigs will be made from hair donated to Hair For Hope India - which stipulates donations of 15 inches and above.
"One of our main focuses now is converting hair into wigs. For children who can't donate 15 inches or more of hair, they now have the opportunity to sponsor a wig and give it direct to the patients," Mathew said.
"Loss of hair is one of the most debilitating effects of chemotherapy, so these children are helping give back dignity to the patients."
Divyashree and Harishree said their involvement in this worthy cause has been one which has moved them.
"We learnt that more than 400,000 people die every year because of breast cancer and late detection. When these patients undergo chemotherapy, they lose their hair and their self-esteem. Most of these patients are unable to pay for the wigs. So me and my sister want to donate some wigs to bring a smile on their faces," said Divyashree.
Recent winners of the Hamdan Award in Dubai, the girls have pledged to donate part of their award money to create more awareness about cancer.
The youngest do-gooder, but by no means the least, is 5-year-old Ashly Aneesh.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, mother of the Gulf Asian Indian School KG2 student, Liji Aneesh said her daughter will be flying back to India for her summer vacation, but she'll be vacationing with a difference.
"At the end of this month, Ashly will be waving goodbye to her hair too - all 13 inches of it. She wants to donate her flowing locks to a cancer patient."
Hair For Hope India has so far inspired more than 4,000 hair donations from the US to New Zealand, and Dubai to India.
Mathew said the latest donor is in fact a Korea-based resident who reached out to her over Facebook.
"What we do is spread a message about cancer awareness without any geographical boundaries."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com