The India-West news publication, in the US, reports that a 21-year-old IB alumnus Jeena Kar is helping women who have undergone chemotherapy for cancer treatment.
The article reports that Kar, an Indian American religion student at the University of Florida at Gainesville, is helping female cancer patients to reclaim pride in their appearance with a gorgeous “crown” of henna, hand-drawn in ornate Indian designs.
Kar has been a henna enthusiast since childhood and found that she could work on her art while earning volunteer hours toward her IB diploma. She is quoted:
“First I started drawing on myself, then my family, and eventually on friends from the community. I started to post my henna pictures online, and by the time I started high school, everyone knew that I was good at henna, so school clubs would frequently invite me to apply henna for fundraising.
"This was how I accumulated many volunteer hours for IB — I would simply set up my booth and draw on people for a few hours and then the money would be donated. This allowed me to gain a lot of experience and interact with many people, and I enjoyed it.”
Kar explained to India-West that she first got the idea when she was tasked with a project for a course on Creativity and Spirituality in Healthcare.
“Through the course I explored my own artistic strengths and weaknesses and saw that all of my artwork reflected my Indian heritage. Everything I drew or painted had henna motifs and styling. I realized that for my healing project, I should do something that connects henna with healthcare, because henna is my niche.”
You can read the full article on India-West.
