As students of Mahindra United World College of India, we have been affiliated with “Wake up Pune”, a coalition of NGOs who combine their abilities to provide awareness for, and fight HIV/AIDS, in the villages around our campus and in Pune itself. In the past we have been involved in music concerts and lectures, but we felt that we could do something to help on a larger scale.
Rather than organizing an HIV/AIDS walk or run, we wanted to do something that is less common, more striking, and that would continue to bring awareness to the cause long after the actual event. This project, we decided, would be head shaving. 20 girls from Mahindra United World College of India sacrificed their hair on 3rd March to raise awareness and funds for the needs of HIV/AIDS patients in Pune.
We are raising money for the Deep Griha HIV/AIDS clinic. This organization works in Pune, a large city in Maharasthra, India, where an estimated 1.8% of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS. The medical care that they provide for HIV/AIDS patients, and the support that they give, are essential for many HIV+ people in Pune who do not have the ability to pay for treatments. Of the money that we raise, about $30 a day will cover general medication expenses for HIV related infections for the HIV+ people in two of the larger slums in Pune. This medication helps patients maintain their immune systems and reduce the risk of the virus developing into AIDS.
For the next few months, each time someone asks one of the 20 international girls (from 16 different countries) why they shaved their head, our response will continue to raise awareness and support Deep Griha.
In addition, to see that the hair didnot go to waste, we sent the sacrificed hair to “Locks of Love”, an organization that provides wigs for children with hair loss diseases.
Money is still being collected for the clinic and donations are collected through the following website http://www.smartgive.com/showpublicevent.php?url=thegirlsgobald. We thought it would be a nice idea for someone from each of the UWCs to take the initiative to raise money and make a donation from their college. The donations are made online through a credit card transaction and the website makes the transaction extremely easy. Our current target is £6000 and we have £4621, we’re almost there!!!!
UNITED WORDS 
Hey,
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pl visit http://cfs.ibnlive.com to register..
i think that what you guys did was sooo inspiring and a great aproch to raise awarness for this cause. i just wanted to day that you guys are blessed and are amazing for doing something like this. 🙂 God bless!!!
Hey,
This is Edlyn from The Asian Age newspaper and I heard about this protest last year but never really got a chance to cover it.
We are profiling “quirky causes” and I thought that this would be a good chance to go back in time. If I can speak to anybody involved with this cause to go back in time, pls email me at eeekster@gmail.com.
Merci beaucoup
Edlyn D’Souza
Hi there
This is Edlyn from The Asian Age in Mumbai. I heard about your “Girls gone balc” initiative when I visited the school in 2008 but I didn’t get a chance to do a story on the same.
Well my newspaper is profiling “quirky causes” and I thought that this would be a good opportunity to speak to someone. If anybody involved with this cause wants to go back in time..just get in touch with me. My email is eeekster@gmail.com,
I would really appreciate it.
Merci!
Edlyn D’Souza