Henna tattoos take over Houston Hall

College senior Stephanie Siaw squeezed her plastic bag of dark green Mehndi paste tightly, slowly attempting to recreate the intricate Hindi character in front of her on a student’s arm. Siaw, along with her fellow students in the Student Ambassadors of the World, gave out Henna tattoos Wednesday afternoon in Houston Hall to raise awareness about international women’s issues.

In addition to providing the tattoos, the group screened the brief documentary Undesired to highlight the prevalence of gender-based abortions in India.

Proceeds from the event — each tattoo cost $2 — went to Pratit, a humanitarian group that uses education, medical aid and microfinance to reduce poverty in India.

“We try to raise awareness through fun events,” College senior Lan Dinh said.

“Since the event is contributing to India, we were thinking something Indian,” Siaw said of the Henna tattoos.

The wait was roughly 20 minutes for a tattoo, but that didn’t deter several students from getting designs — including Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew and Hindi phrases — on their arms or hands.

Nursing junior Catherine Dierkes had “never done anything like this before,” she said. She “always wanted to get a Henna tattoo” and was excited to see students giving out the tattoos, she added, since she originally came to Houston Hall for another event: Manicure for the Cure, which raised money for breast cancer research.

Lauren Edwards, a student at the High School of Engineering and Science in Philadelphia, got a “spirit” tattoo. She was at Houston Hall for a field trip and stopped to get a Henna tattoo “because it’s a cool, attractive thing,” she said.

College senior Gaby Esensten also found her tattoo “very beautiful,” but she “wished the [documentary] could have been projected” instead of played on a laptop, she said.

College freshman Ruona Ughwanogho had reservations about the event’s effectiveness. “I totally respect the initiative,” said Ughwanogho, who got a tattoo, “but I feel a lot of people come out, get [the Henna] done, and then forget about the issue they’re raising awareness for.”

Regardless, “depending on how successful this event is, we might do this at Spring Fling,” Dinh said. SAW also plans to stage a salsa-dancing event later this month to raise money for poverty-stricken women in Haiti.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.