By Sainabou Sambou
Hawa Makasuba is a young make-up artist and a teacher who has defied stereotypes in a male-dominated area in The Gambia as one of the very few female barbers in the country.
In an exclusive interview with Gambia Daily, Ms. Makasuba, the breadwinner of her family, said despite barbing is seen as a non-lucrative job, she got driven into it by her passion.
According to her she learnt the skill of barbing on YouTube and on other social media platforms. She said she also joined barbing group chats, which she said proved to be very helpful for her. She took loan to open her own barbing salon.
Hawa is also a civil servant. She took to skills after realising that her salary alone cannot sustain her and her family. The young barber said that she sees barbing as a normal profession.
“In a case where a client comes with a style that am not familiar with I normally tell them that I am not familiar with the style but I could try and they would agree. When I barb their hair they normally give me positive feedback,” she said.
On her challenges, the former teacher said she has only one barbing machine and sometimes when charging the machine her clients would sit and wait for her to charge.
Despite the mockery Awa has remained steadfast to her cause and is determined to achieve her dream of becoming a highly qualified barber.
