Within ” The Palestinian Consortium for Nonviolence” project, Basmet Amal For Cancer Care institution has launched the” Strands Of Hope” initiative, under the slogan ” Your Hair Draws Smiles on Others Face,” in partnership with Pal-Think For Strategic Studies and FXB France .

“Strands of Hope” initiative focused on encouraging women who are exhausted by the loss of their hair, as a result of undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, and support them in in fighting the disease and facing challenges by peaceful, non-violent means, especially most of the women with cancer in the Gaza Strip are from low-income families and suffer a lot to save the cost of treatment and other essential, as a result of the siege applied to all aspects of life.

Ten cancer patients were trained to produce wigs through an intensive training program. The training enables them to create and made the “wigs” and producing hair strands, and makes it available for other patient women who need it while receiving treatment. This will raise women morale by looking beautiful without feeling deficient or deprived in their families during the periods of hair loss, this will encourage them to regain their self-confidence, and look positively for all sides and face any difficulties in a peaceful and civilized manner.

During the training, Ms. Maha Lolo one of the cancer patients, stressed ” life without your hair is hard, it’s not easy to be normal again after losing it, this affects my family and me, but i will replace the fallen hair with a new one, what a beautiful feeling that is going on inside me, that a person we don’t know felt us with the real interdependence!.”

With the launch of the initiative, a campaign was launched by Basmet Amal institution entitled “Donate a Hair Strand”.

Through a closing ceremony where all participants were honored with certificates of appreciation, participated women expressed their satisfaction and happiness with the initiative, especially the skills they gained during the training days. On the other hand, the institution management expressed its gratitude to all the contributors to the success of “strands of hope” initiative, which provided ways to overcoming challenges and providing opportunity to make a difference by encouraging women not to give up or resort to violence; on the contrary, they are given the hope of life because there are alternative nonviolent solutions to overcome difficulties.