In Melbourne, Australia, a familiar figure on the weekend is a skateboarding barber, who aims to give value to the homeless people in the city by giving them free haircuts on his only day off each week.
Melbourne-based Canadian, Nasir Sobhani, who is 26 years old, had a history of substance abuse when he was still living in Canada. He’s familiarly called the Streets Barber in Melbourne. After undergoing rehabilitation, he came to realize that there is more to life than being dependent on drugs. Now he wants to show his appreciation for all the people who believed in him and helped him become better by giving back to the community through the service he knows best – cutting hair. He calls his initiative “Clean Cut, Clean Start” because he personally believes that a haircut gives someone much more than shorter hair. It can also become a simple means to have a clean start to a new life.
Free haircuts one day a week
So on the only day that he is free from his regular job as a barber, Sobhani rides his skateboard, toting his barber’s kit and looks for homeless people who are willing to talk with him and have their hair done. He asks them if they want a free haircut and requests their permission to be interviewed and video-documented. He shares with them his life’s experiences while cutting their hair, tells them about his substance abuse and his rehabilitation and his joy in living in mainstream society once again. He asks them about their life stories, the reasons why they became homeless and even gives them a few tips and a handful of practical advice.
He got the idea for his initiative from a window washer at the barbershop where he used to work as an apprentice. The man decided to get a haircut one day to celebrate his first month’s sobriety. Sobhani said he was moved by the scene of a teary-eyed mother coming to take a picture of his clean-cut and sober son. Sobhani said he realized that a good haircut could give a person confidence.
Aside from his family and the people who helped him during his rehabilitation, Sobhani thanks his Baha’i faith for keeping him sober.
Image Copyright: Sorapich Pongsapan / 123RF Stock Photo
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