Volunteer sheds hair for good cause

SERVING at the Lungelo Youth Development Centre in Mzingazi, international youth exchange volunteer Mirjeta Shald took her service a step further when she snipped her golden locks to help cancer patients.

Local hairstylist Annette van Eeden visited the centre on Wednesday where she cut off Mirjeta’s long braid and packaged it for delivery to the uThungulu CANSA office in Empangeni.

The 20-year-old from Switzerland arrived in Richards Bay at the end of August and is assisting the centre, which cares for 85 young children in their crèche facility, teens in the after-school programme and income generating projects for unemployed youth.

Shald came to South Africa because she wanted to help people and enjoys working with children.

‘I wanted to do more to help others while am here, and since I have family members who have had cancer I chose to help the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA).

‘Mzingazi can get really hot and I am happy to cut my hair for a good cause and also to keep cool,’ she said.

Cancer patients often undergo chemotherapy and hair loss is a common side-effect of chemotherapy treatment; the donated hair is used to make wigs for patients.

Caring
A volunteer through the AFS cultural exchange programme, Shald lives with her host family in Mzingazi until July.

‘I have never learned as much as I have in these two months, and I am fascinated by how content and happy the people in this community are with the little they have.

‘Where I come from people have so much but they are still unhappy, it is the opposite here because people do not even have the basic necessities but it does not stop them from being grateful and happy.’

Meanwhile, the centre’s founder Mary Mlambo said she was so impressed by Mirjeta’s love for the children and how well she has integrated into the community.

‘The language barrier has not been a major challenge for her because even though the little ones only communicate in Zulu, they understand each other.’

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