A young part-time hairstylist from a low-income, single-parent family is making the best of his skills in an unusual way as he works with charities that have helped him over the years.
Chih Shao-hua, who was presented with an award by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at this year’s National Youth Contribution Awards, has been offering free haircuts to patients and people in assisted-care facilities, hospitals and charity organizations, such as Taiwan World Vision, since he was 15.
The 19-year-old, who is a certified hairstylist, said in an interview last week that he “has probably given haircuts to at least 1,000 people.”
When asked how many institutions he had visited, Chih said: “If you really want to count, there are really just too many,” adding that he also maintains his equipment and towels — which are sterilized — out of his own pocket.
Having spent more than five years in various foster homes while his mother was being treated for depression, Chih said he understood how young people with troubled backgrounds felt.
“Once I cut a boy’s hair; I think I was just a year older than him at that time. He said he had not had a haircut for three years,” Chih said.
Chih, who had also forgone haircuts to save money, said: “I knew he must have lacked confidence at school, so I made sure to give him a more unusual style.”
However, it was one of his first experiences of cutting a cancer patient’s hair that changed his perceptions about the volunteer work he was doing.
“At first, I wanted to make her look pretty even though she had cancer. So I gave her a really good hairstyle,” Chih said. “However, she said she did not want it because it was a pain to arrange.”
“I felt very frustrated until I learned more in class about the mentality of cancer patients,” said Chih, who is also a student nurse. “After the classes, I began to realize that they actually don’t need something that simply looks pretty.”
In addition to hospital patients and young people, he also “cut” hair for a bald man with a mental disorder.
“I really didn’t know what to do, but he probably thought he still had hair,” Chih said.
He met the challenge and “pretended to shave” the man’s scalp.
His client later looked at himself in the mirror and said that he was very satisfied with the cut.
Chih has also had to deal with patients who have erupted into anger, talked to themselves or stood up and walked around when he was cutting their hair.
Accompanied by his mother, Chih has also participated in a fundraiser for a local Down -syndrome association.
“Compared with giving free haircuts to the needy, I think that event gave me another direction in which to take my charity work. I can also cut normal peoples’ hair and give the money to those who need it,” he said.
Chih’s mother said since her son began his volunteer work, he has grown from a timid, quiet boy into a more positive and confident young man.
She expressed her appreciation to the social workers who helped them for many years.
“We are very lucky compared with the people we see, the disabled and poor,” she said.
Chih has also tried to get more of his peers into the habit of volunteering, introducing students with hairstyling skills to institutions that can use their help.
He has also been named his community’s best teacher in the “volunteer stylist” category.
When asked why he decided to study nursing, a relatively uncommon occupation for men in Taiwan, Chih said: “I think maybe it was my sense of duty.”
“As far back as I can remember, people around me often got sick or did not feel well, including my mom, who suffered from depression. My foster mother would take me to visit her in the hospital,” he said. “After I went to junior high school, I suddenly realized that my life seemed to be completely intertwined with hospitals.”
Chih said he plans to pursue studies in psychology after graduating from Mackay Medicine Nursing and Management College so he can learn how to provide well-rounded services to patients in all aspects — physical, mental and spiritual.
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