'My Hair, Your Hair': Bosnians weave wigs for kids with cancer

Ajla Nizic did not know what cancer was when she was diagnosed with it at age four.

"But I knew that I lost my hair," said the Bosnian leukaemia survivor who is now 19 years old.

Now a medical student, Nizic is leading a campaign to give other sick children a luxury her parents could not afford: wigs.

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.

"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, who now has long brown tresses.

Her campaign -- "My Hair, Your Hair" -- is encouraging Bosnians to donate their locks to a new wigmaking workshop that opened in Sarajevo in October.

There, volunteers are weaving wigs specifically for children who are undergoing chemotherapy or have lost their hair because of other health complications.

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.

On a recent afternoon at an elementary school in Sarajevo, several young pupils sat calmly as their hair was combed into sections and then snipped off.

"I don't want to be the only one smiling," said 13-year-old Suana Sehic, now sporting a bouncy bob. "I would like a smile to return to the face of all children."
"We measure their heads and look at photographs of how their hair looked before."