A Sandton City salons opens its doors once a week to streetgirls for a free hair style – and a dose of self-esteem
Boetie Damane
The salon Hair Images attracts a celebrity clientele – stars like Yvonne Chaka-Chaka, Dennis “Chesa Mpama” Lota of Orlando Pirates, and Boom Shaka’s Lebo. On Tuesdays, sitting alongside such clients are streetgirls, getting the trendiest styles.
“Hairdos are very important to females. They make a lady feel good,” explains Fernanda Bhaktawer, owner of Hair Images. “We wanted these girls to feel exactly that way. They should realise that some people really care for them.”
The project started some time ago when teenage streetgirl Nomsa was blinded in one eye in a street rumble. Shock turned her hair white overnight and staff at the Thembalethu Street Girls Centre in Noord Street decided that Nomsa’s self-esteem needed boosting and her hair should be dyed black again. A helper rang the top salons to see if anyone was prepared to help.
For Bhaktawer the call came as an answer to her prayers. She had wanted to help streetgirls for ages and offering them a snazzy hairstyle seemed to her the best way.
Every Tuesday after breakfast at Thembalethu, instead of joining in the usual events like sewing, skills-training and soccer, the four girls whose turn it is for a hairdo are driven from Noord Street to Sandton City. Transport is provided by a local media company as part of an informal social responsibility programme.
Streetgirl Lindiwe (18), who ran away from her home at Dlamini in Soweto and dreams of being a lawyer, says it took time before the hairdressing staff accepted them. “Perhaps this was because we came from a shelter and were not paying.”
But this attitude has changed. “Whoever you are and wherever you come from, there will be a place where you will be accepted and feel at home. For me, that place is Hair Images.”
Khanyisile (11) is from Ciskei and wants to be a social worker. She loves all the styles “except spiral. We have to look nice and a good hairstyle does just that,” she says.
Twins Nozuko and Zukiswa, who are 18 and in grade 11, believe that everyone needs to be given an opportunity in life. They are laid back about sharing a posh salon with the stars. “They are just like us – human,” says Nozuko.
She adds: “Girls want a nice hairstyle, which assures them that they look prettier.” Nozuko would like the hairdressing staff to listen more when it comes to selecting a style. “Sometimes we get what the hairdresser decides is best. But we know what style we want and should be able to choose.”
Says Zukiswa: “Girls who stay with their families are privileged because their parents give them money for the beauty salon.”
Could boyfriends help out? “Yuu! You will regret ever asking for their help!” the twins say.
Jennifer (21) talks of the boost to self-esteem the women get from having a luxury hairdo. “Before we felt isolated, like outcasts. Now we are confident that we belong and are accepted by society.”
Emily, a 15-year-old from Orange Farm, wants to be a soldier one day. She has yet to bump into a really big celebrity at Hair Images, but is looking forward to it.
She feels comfortable in the salon and approves of all the styles, except brush. Then – remembering the days at home before she ran away – Emily says her mother was the best when it came to hairdressing.
Hlengiwe (18) ran away from home four years ago. “We used to style each other’s hair at Thembalethu,” she says. “With Hair Images all that has changed. Now my hair is growing and looks healthier.”
Thembalethu, which means Our Hope, opened its doors five years ago with start-up funds donated by former president Nelson Mandela from his Nobel Peace Prize money.
Thembalethu outreach worker Evelyn Phoyana says the centre is proud of what has been achieved by the association with the salon.
Adds Phoyana: “We used to buy hair products for the girls. Sometimes they were donated, but they were always not enough.”
Clinical psychologist Dr Marc Joffe comments: “This sort of engagement can make a modest contribution to a factor such as self-esteem. However, it might be understood as an attempt by an indulged middle class, engaged in a Sandtonian practice of gratuitous beautification, to assuage guilt.”
Joffe, a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand who specialises in gender issues, adds, however: “Even if this is the case, it does not necessarily detract from the kindness or humanity of the project.
“The salon might think about a more collaborative project with the girls – a project of respectful collaboration in the form of apprenticeships/training/employment.
These options tend towards an engagement or touch that is more likely to be enduring for the girls.”
Carol Bews, an assistant director of Johannesburg Child Welfare, which operates the drop-in centre, agrees: “If the girls could be taught the skills of hair care, such as braiding, this would empower them to earn an income,” she says. “They could set up their own salon on the pavement outside Thembalethu.”