It took four hours every week to wash her hair and an hour and a half to brush every day
There are certain drawbacks to having a five-foot-long mane of hair. Twelve-year-old Natasha Moraes de Andrade of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was proud of her hair, but it took hours to wash and comb it. Her family couldn’t turn on fans for fear of getting it caught. And riding a bicycle was out of the question. Still, getting her hair cut was a difficult decision.
‘I cried at first when I was at the hairdressers to get it cut,’ she says.
‘I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, and I was also scared I might not get the money I wanted for it…
‘Getting it cut has given me a new life. I used to be afraid every time I went out that someone would grab my hair or try to cut it off, but now I can do a lot of things which I couldn’t do before.
‘Now I’m having cycling lessons, and I’ve got my freedom back. I much prefer it. I want to learn English and Spanish, and I’ve been able to go to the beach and swim without being afraid of getting my hair wet.’
But the best part is the $5,000 she earned by selling her hair, which will enable her family to build a much-needed new home.
