Video: Donate your hair for charity: Locks of Love

Donating your hair for charity is not only supporting a great cause, it is also a way to make sure that nothing is wasted in life and that in every act you do you are mindful. I donated 30 cm (14 inches) of my hair to charity today -for children’s wigs and in the video below you can see the event and get instruction how to donate.

One of the charities you can donate your hair to is “Locks of Love”. It is a well-established nonprofit organization dedicated to gathering donated hair for children’s wigs. The charity makes wigs for financially disadvantaged children across the U.S. who suffer from long-term medical hair loss. These children receive custom-made and fitted wigs made from donated human hair for free or on a sliding scale based on need.

Donated hair must be at least 10 inches long, clean, dry, and bundled into a ponytail or braid. Colored or permed hair is acceptable if it’s not chemically damaged. Most of the wig requests come from girls, and they want long hair. That’s why there is a minimum length. Hair as long as 14 to 16 inches is ideal. Short-haired boy’s wigs are made from shorter lengths separated from longer ponytails/braids.

“Wigs for Kids” is another nonprofit group that accepts donated hair. This organization also gives wigs to children affected by medical hair loss. Their hair donation guidelines are slightly different: hair must be 12 inches long and must not be permed or color-treated in any way.

While chemotherapy is the best-known reason for children’s hair loss, it does not cause a permanent loss of hair. After the treatment is over, hair almost always grows back within three to six months. In contrast, alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease, can cause patchy or complete hair loss that lasts for years. The cause of the disease is unknown, and it currently has no cure.

According to “Locks of Love” most of the children they help have alopecia areata, and the wigs are a great boost to the children’s self esteem.

Whether you have hair or money to donate, those in need will appreciate your hair and your generosity.

You can send your donated hair to:
LOCKS OF LOVE
2925 10th Avenue N
Suite 102
Lake Worth, FL 33461-3099

– My haircut was done by Khun Noi at “Your Hair” in Chiang Mai. It is located on 106/4 Sirimangkalajarn Rd, Chiang Mai 50200. Phone: +66 (0)89-5599586

Visit to a Shan refugee camp near Chiang Mai, Thailand

On Saturday September the 8th I went with a group of friends to visit a Shan refugee camp about 4 hours drive from Chiang Mai city. The purpose of the visit was to bring food, school supplies, medicine, and donated clothes etc. to the refugees and to spend a day entertaining all the children of the camp. This camp has existed since 2003 but has not got official status. Previous to this the refugees lived for two years in tents by the nearby Wat.

Shan refugee camp in The Chiang Mai area, Thailand

In order to ensure the safety of the refugees living in the camp I cannot write neither the name nor the location of the camp. Burmese refugees are illegal in Thailand , have no rights (to school, health facilities, work etc) and are constantly under the threat of being caught and sent back to Burma . Being deported back to Burma would for the most part mean imprisonment, torture and worse. Therefore, it is essential to keep the names and faces of the refugees anonymous. To read about news from Burma , please see http://www.irrawaddy.org/ .

In order to get to the camp we had rented two big vans in which we could have both people (9 different nationalities) and donations for the camp. We started the day making bags with food and sweets for the 200 children in the camp. After that we started the games. We played: football, darts, rob jumping, badminton, 3-legged races, tug of war, balloon dance and had a dance competition. All the games we rewarded with prizes of sweets (to all the kids). The children were all absolutely adorable and my biological clock was definitely ticking heavily (poor Thomas…). Also knowing that 50 of the 200 children in the camp are orphans just made me want to take a few home.

After many hours of play the children got their bags with food and sweets and a ceremony was held with a monk. The recording can be found below.

x

At the end of the day the camp leader spent an hour telling us about the situation in Burma, the history of the camp and answered our questions. It was an absolutely mind-blowing day. Not only did we make the kids happy, help the camp, enjoy the beautiful landscape and fresh air, but we also learned a lot. This has enabled me to pass it on to you…