The Compass – I am a prisoner of pain, sadness and brokenness, bored of waiting, his smile hides all secrets.

This was the case of the young Nihad Al-Dabbas, before he found in his profession something to help him forget the past, and a way to achieve himself, and to dry the tears from his cheeks.

Al-Dabbas, 38, has been working as a barber in the capital, Amman, for about 23 years, after his family’s circumstances forced him to leave his studies and join the ranks of workers at the age of 15.

** Towards the happiness of children

It was not up to him. After his parents separated and left him and his two sisters in his grandfather’s house to his mother, he found himself facing the test of endurance in the face of family problems, as he proved to his likes that all obstacles are removed before a solid will, and demolition shovels break on its walls and curb ambition.

The young man found himself losing the concepts of sympathy and tenderness as a result of staying away from his parents, wandering in the darkness of the world, looking for something to compensate for that, and through which he would bring happiness to the hearts of others.

Nihad found what he was looking for in his hands, which are the shaving tools he uses, and the remains of cut hair, to crystallize his idea in 2018, and to set up an initiative called “Harir”, based on making a “wig” from natural hair for children with cancer.

At his workplace in Abdoun, in the center of the capital, Amman, the Anatolia reporter visited Al-Dabbas, and listened to the most prominent details of his initiative, through which he was able to draw a smile on the lips of hundreds of children with cancer.

He said: “I joined the world of cosmetology in 1999, and since that time I am fully convinced that there is a certain mechanism through which I can benefit from hair without getting rid of it, and help people who have lost it by force after suffering from difficult diseases, especially cancer.”

He continued, turning over a number of items in front of a 16-year-old girl named Majd Blasi, who had brain cancer: “This is a wig of hope, because it is natural hair. It revives hope in the hearts of sufferers, like this girl who lost her hair due to this dreaded disease.”

He added, “My profession helped me master the manufacture of natural hair wigs, which usually need 60 to 80 days to make one.”

“Within 4 years of launching my initiative, I have been able to help more than 400 children wear the wig of hope,” he said.

He added, “I am overwhelmed with great happiness when I hear from the families of these children about the psychological effect of the wig, and raise their spirits. The psychological factor contributes greatly to the treatment.”

And he added, “Dozens of volunteers work with me, and we do not wait for a wage for what we do, despite the high cost of the manufacturing process. A single wig costs between 300 and 800 Jordanian dinars (422-985).”

He added, “During that period and everything I did was a conviction of the need to realize the concepts of kindness and tenderness for these children, which are things that I lost in my childhood.”

He added, “I did not get any money from anyone in exchange for that, and I give the wig free of charge to the patient, even though I spent everything I owned, until I had to sell my house and car, and I do not regret it, because in front of the power of principles vanishes and all interests disappear.”

** The will to live

Nuhad addressed another reason that motivated him to go into his work. His connection to his uncle, who was one month younger than him and who died of cancer at the age of 19, after losing his hair due to illness, encouraged him to work on his initiative.

Nuhad’s tears overflowed without warning, as he said: “I lost tenderness in my childhood, so why should I not be a reason to compensate him for the children!”

He added, “Whoever lost his parents at my age usually takes the path of loss, but I preserved myself, and assumed responsibility from my childhood, and was able to own a house, a car, and a private hairdressing salon.”

Nihad did not forget the circumstances of his childhood, and wanted to prove his love for life and life by choosing names that indicate this for his two oldest daughters: Farah and Fun, sisters Massa, Karam and Amir, as if he wanted to say: I am steadfast no matter how bad the circumstances.

He concluded by saying, “Farah (13 years old) and Marah (12 years old) help me in my work, and from them I derive my strength and face difficult circumstances. You always tell me: You want God’s face in your initiative, and God will not let you down.”

According to official statistics, cancer is the second cause of death in Jordan after cardiovascular disease, and is responsible for 15.7 percent of deaths, with the number of cancer deaths reaching 3,084 annually.

As for children, the number of injuries in 2021 reached about 236 for those under the age of 15, about half of them under the age of five.

Anatolia