Hairdressing Training Lesson Gift (Digital download)
The hair is bought and will be used as part of our hairdressing sessions in the Interim Care Centre and at the mobile centre to teach children different ways to make income. We want to show them that there are other ways available to provide for themselves without resorting to begging or commercial sex work. Its the perfect joke present for any bald men in your life or even a present for your hairdresser!
We will email you a digital version of the gift certificate and provide the gift to a child living, or formerly living, on the streets in Sierra Leone.
How your gift has helped Laughter Africa children in the past:
We teach all the girls staying in the Interim Care Centre (ICC) hairdressing. The ICC is where the street children live while we find their families. Over 100 street children stay in the ICC each year. It is the heartbeat of Laughter Africa – we couldn’t do our work without it.
Every single child has a reason for being on the street; from abuse at home; to the effects of men piken; from losing their parents to ebola; to abuse from a step parent. One girl outlined the cruelty she had experienced from her step mum, “She would set fire to pieces of plastic and drop it on my body. I still have the scares. It was so painful. When the plastic melts on my body- the agony I felt.” None of these children chose to go on the streets- they had no choice. They have no other options, often being maltreated or because their care-giver is physically unable to provide for them.
Here’s some of their stories (Trigger Warning for child abuse)
“𝙈𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚, 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣.”
“𝙈𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡. 𝙈𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙮.”
“𝙈𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙗𝙤𝙡𝙖. 𝙎𝙤 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙗𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩- 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙣. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙯𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚.”
”𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 10. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 3 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙈𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝙈𝙮 𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙤 (𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧). 𝙈𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚.”
- We still see the legacy of Ebola as most of the children ended up on the streets after the death of their parents. They have tried to live with other family members, however, maltreatment led them to the streets. One boy recalled, “𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙗 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚.”
The ICC is refuge, a safe place for the street children to escape, to heal, to learn new skills and most of all let them be children again. It gives them a chance just to be…
19 year old Esther learned hair dressing for the first time when she stayed at the Interim Care Centre two years ago. We first met Esther, when she was pregnant, in the mobile project in Susan’s Bay. She lived on the streets for 5 years after her mum died from cancer. Esther fled to the streets after she had a disagreement with her father, "He didn’t take care of me or my brother. I am one of 7. He didn’t pay school fees for me. There was no food in the house."
Esther survived a lot of challenges on the streets including sexual assault by people in positions of authority, which increased during the Covid curfews as well as the brutal murder of her friend (the details of which are too horrifying to share publicly). She said, "The streets are not fine because I go through lots of pain. If you haven’t got a side to sleep, the boys will just steal your money and beat you."
Since she went home, Esther has given birth to a bouncing baby girl. Esther is a fantastic mum and just dotes on her daughter. Her daughter has given Esther focus and she is determined to stay home for the sake of her child. Hairdressing has given her a sense of worth. She loved hairdressing so much that when we reunified her with her family, she decided to go to vocational school and learn hairdressing. We recently enrolled Esther into hairdressing school and so far she is really enjoying the course. She is absolutely passionate about hairdressing. Once she qualifies and gets her certificate, we will be providing her with the equipment that she needs to establish her own hairdressing business.