Team Barber

I’d never seen so many smiles in one place as I did at our haircutting session today.

Some of the refugees in the hotel we support had been asking about haircuts for a while, so we decided to organise a session for them. We found three wonderful barbers, asylum seekers themselves, who cut hair and trimmed beards for hours, and it felt great to see everyone enjoying themselves so much.

‘Back home, going to the barber always made my day,’ Omre, a young Kurdish boy, told me. ‘Every time I catch a whiff of fresh coffee, or hear voices laughing over music playing, my heart gets so warm with all those memories of being with my friends and family at the barbers. It was my happy place because I knew I would leave the shop looking and feeling fresh.’

We forget how often life is just about the small things. How good it feels to have a fresh haircut we love, how our whole being is revitalised when we are in good company, and how we can for a moment forget about all the troubles in our lives.

So there’s no other feeling like when I see refugees and volunteers laughing and smiling in moments like this. These are the times when we feel like we are truly part of a family, a community rich in stories, kindness and hope.

The three superb barbers worked through their dinner time, so we went to a restaurant to get them food to take home. One of the staff realised they were speaking Kurdish, and he was Turkish Kurdish himself, so we were soon being seated and treated to free chai and baklava while we waited – all much appreciated after the haircutting marathon! Even though they were obviously tired, the first question from ‘Team Barber’ (as they were calling themselves) was ‘When can we go back again?’

We are always looking for more people with varied skills & life experiences to join our local teams to make the best out of our communities, and make incredible distributions like this one happen. Join us by emailing [email protected] to volunteer in your neighbourhood.

More information about volunteering here: care4calais.org/get-involved/